Belgium becomes the second nation, following The Netherlands, in which same-sex couples can marry under the exact same laws as straight people. Numerous other nations let gays tie the knot under separate registered-partnership or civil-union laws that grant up to 99 percent of the rights and obligation of marriage.

Belgian gay activists were having trouble finding couples who wanted to go first and get married amid a media frenzy but now someone has stepped forward.

Margaret Smith, 43, said she is involved with a woman who just recently left her husband.

"This is first and foremost a personal matter," said Smith, who represents Edinburgh West for the Liberal Democrats. "But I am happy to confirm that I am in a relationship with a female partner. My family are aware of the relationship and have been very supportive. My partner is not in the public eye. We would hope that the media would respect the privacy of both families at this time."

Meanwhile, another Scottish MP is under fire for gay-bashing.

John Swinburne, who represents the Central Region for the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, said: "I really don't know what's wrong with these people [gays]. There must be something we can do to help them. They must be sick or something."

Swinburne, 72, later attempted damage control, saying: "My words have been taken out of context. People can do what they like as long as it's legal. I have no problem with gays."

In a second interview, he added: "If I came across as homophobic I can only apologize to people who took that view because it is not my position. What I did say was that I didn't understand the problem because my generation swept it under the carpet."

"Let me tell you one thing first," he writes. "War sucks big time. Don't let yourself ever be talked into having one waged in the name of your freedom. Somehow when the bombs start dropping or you hear the sound of machine guns at the end of your street you don't think about your 'imminent liberation' anymore.

"No matter what the outcome is," he continues, "these things leave a trail of destruction behind them. There were days when the Red Crescent was begging for volunteers to help in taking the bodies of dead people off the city street and bury them properly. The hospital grounds have been turned to burial grounds when the electricity went out and there was no way the bodies can be kept until someone comes and identifies.

"I confess to the sin of being an escapist," Pax says. "When reality hurts I block it out, unless it comes right up to me and knocks me cold. My mother, after going out once after Baghdad was taken by the U.S. Army, decided she is not going out again, not until I promise it looks kind of normal and OK. So I guess the ostrich maneuver runs in the family.

"Things are looking kind of OK these days," he says. "Life has a way of moving on. Your senses are numbed, things stop shocking you. If there is one thing you should believe in, it is that life will find a way to push on, humans are adaptable, that is the only way to explain how such a foolish species has kept itself on this planet without wiping itself out."

Sussex Police are investigating.

This year's pride will go ahead as planned Aug. 2-10.

The question was included in the ninth Gay Men's Sex Survey conducted by the Sigma research group. Seventeen thousand men were questioned.

Three-fourths of the men surveyed expect an HIV-positive individual to reveal his status before sex.

Half of the respondents had been tested for HIV and 14 percent had tested positive.

Twenty percent of those questioned said they'd likely had unprotected anal sex with someone whose HIV status was different from their own.

Among other findings: 34 percent of respondents had experienced homophobic verbal abuse in the past year, mostly from strangers in public. Seven percent had been physically attacked due to their sexuality.

The Internet is now the second most popular place to meet sex partners, after bars and clubs.

The results were summarized in the June issue of Gay Times.

Speaking in the House of Commons May 8, Wayne said: "Why do they have to be out here in the public always debating that they want to call it marriage? Why are they in parades? Why are they dressed up as women on floats? ... If they are going to live together, they can go live together and shut up about it. There is not any need for this nonsense whatsoever and we should not have to tolerate it in Canada."

The protesters said Wayne's outburst did not represent the mindset of her constituents.