Before gay couples could get married in California, Antonio Blount, 31, and Justin McCain, 18, got married last March in Norfolk, Virginia. As all couples have to do, they applied and received their marriage license without a problem. The clerk did not notice that Justin's driving license had an M under sex. Also, the name Justine was used on the application, and Justine was wearing women's clothes. (At Right: The River Front area of Norfolk near the location of the first gay marriage in the Virginia.)

The happy couple was then married in a civil marriage at the court house, and the honeymoon began after the first gay marriage in the very conservative Commonwealth of Virginia.

All would have continued well except Justine pushed her luck and applied for a change of name. When the records arrived from her birth state, the truth was out, and the Commonwealth Attorney initiated charges of a misdemeanor for false information, which carries a fine of $250.

Of course, the marriage was legally nullified, and in time the charges were dropped with some legalese chatter from the Commonwealth Attorney who did not want the embarrassment of being heckled and laughed at by a million intelligent Virginians while being supported by two million rednecks.

The sad news is that the no-longer-married gay couple went into hiding and accepted their state ordered divorce. Had their original bravado continued, they might have made a court case to challenge Virginia laws against only marriage between a man and a woman.

No one knows how it would have played out in the courts, but it would have been fun watching anal retentive lawyers from Virginia defending an arcane law.

San Jose: The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), bitterly divided over sexuality and the Bible, set up another confrontation Friday over its ban on ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians. (At Right: Michael Adee - Field Organizer for gay friendly More Light Presbyterians. To see their Website, Click Here)

The denomination's General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., voted 54 percent to 46 percent Friday to drop the requirement that would-be ministers, deacons and elders live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness."

Jerusalem: More than three-thousand people attended Jerusalem's gay pride parade on Thursday but unlike previous marches police reported only minor homophobic incidents.

Nearly 2,000 police officers were on duty along the parade route.

At one point a small group of haredi, the ultra-Orthodox sect that disrupted pervious pride celebrations, were blocked by police from coming close to the parade route. One protestor was arrested.

Pride marchers were mostly subdued - purposeful attempt to avoid confrontation. There were none of the disco boys, leather men and drag queens that mark parades in other world capitals.

Dear Doc, I'm wondering if a condom is necessary between monogamous couples because of germs. My partner and I have not used one in eleven years, but we trust each other not to be with other men. Some recommend that if the trust level is not high, you should always use a condom.

Can we catch anything from each other? We always clean up afterwards, and although it may be physically dangerous, we find sex in the shower is a lot of fun. -Rob

Dear Rob, I think that if you are a monogamous couple over time you mirror image each other with flora. Just kissing deeply with a new friend can give you organisms that can cause diarrhea or other issues theoretically.

The high school principal in a small South Carolina town announced that he would resign rather than allow gay students to form a club and meet at the school. The principal said that it was against his religious principles to extend equal rights to a gay group even though straight students routinely could meet on school grounds.

The local community rallied to the Principal’s principles, but the courts said no. If any student group can use school property, then all can.

South Carolina and many other southern States have historically been slow in understanding and accepting the US Constitution and its Amendments. They get as far as the Second Amendment –the right to bear arms, but then the rest remains rather fussy in their minds, particularly those amendments that grand equal civil rights to all citizens regardless of their color, sex, religion, native origin, or what they do in bed at night.

Jerusalem, city of three faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim) is in its annual uproar over a Gay Pride Parade. Once again the country's high court was asked to cancel the biggest gay event of the year, and once again the court has declined to do so.

Was the call to stop the parade because gay people were known to misbehave? No, it was not the gays' actions but rather the religious groups that have always raised holy hell over this event.

Jerusalem: Israel's Supreme Court refused Monday to issue an injunction barring gays from holding a pride march in Jerusalem this Thursday. The ultra-right National Jewish Front and the city of Jerusalem filed separate briefs with the high court asking to have the parade cancelled. The National Jewish Front in its brief called the parade a "a provocation," and said the parade would cause civil unrest.

During a hearing Monday Justice Ayala Procaccia said there must be a balance "between the desires of the gay and lesbian community to march, and the feelings of the city's residents. It is important that such parades become a matter of routine instead of causing a commotion every year."

Religious extremists have attempted to stop the parade in the past. Last year, moments before the gay pride march was to begin in Jerusalem police arrested a man carrying a homemade bomb. Police said the 32 year old said he planned to detonate it near the parade route to scare people away.

Dear Doc, I am 70 and uncut and tha past six months my foreskin on the inside gets very red and irritated after I have sex or even worse when I masturbate. Do you know of any thing that would help? -Mel

Dear Mel, TO suddenly have a lesion inside the foreskin that is red and raw is potentially concerning. Unless it is a matter of drying out or trauma, I wonder about a precancerous or cancerous lesion or something like a herpes blister. The best way to explore this would be to refrain until healing occurs and see what happens. Is there any infection? Does it go away completely? If there is a persistent lesion you should see a physician. -Ellar, M.D.

Dear Doc, Do gay men who often engage in anal sex tend to have more colon problems (cancer, etc.) than straight people? Thanks, Larry

Dear Larry, Men who engage in anal sex do not have increased colon problems. The normal mechanical activity of stretching a muscle has been developed to pass stools that can exceed the diameter of an erect penis.

There are caveats however. There can be pain if people have anal fissures. Also, the anus passes vast amounts of bacteria which compose 1/3 of the volume of stool. And, the soft tissues are sensitive to trauma and the micro-hemorrhages that occur with intercourse are channels to infect the body with the viruses of HIV and Hepatitis as well as bacteria such as salmonella. With all the bacteria it is remarkable how our immune system protects us.

It is good to relax muscles of the rectum and take it easy at the early stages and always use protection. However when i did a fellowship in Africa during medical school, a four finger dilating anal stretch was used to treat hemorrhoids successfully. -Ellar, M.D.

Ron There was a recent poll in California that showed 51 percent of all voters approved of gay marriage and that number has been steadily increasing. The election in November should include a larger number of young voters because of the Obama campaign which would decrease the chances of passage of the marriage amendment. Also, a number of legal observers have expressed the opinion that legal marriages conducted now will remain legal even if the November ballot measure passes.