A couple of days ago the somewhat surprisingly news came out that an unnamed 23-year-old man had claimed that he’d had an illegal underage sexual relationship when he was 16 with Kevin Clash, the man who’s voiced and been the puppeteer of Elmo for nearly 30 years.

Now the man has withdrawn those allegation, vindicating Clash’s claims that while he had indeed been intimate with the man, it had been perfectly legal (it hadn’t publicly been known before that Kevin is gay). When the allegation was made, Clash said that he was ‘deeply saddened that he [the accuser] is trying to make it into something it was not.’

The man’s lawyer has now released a statement to the LA Times, saying their client ‘now wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship. He will have no further comment on the matter.’

When the allegations came to light, Clash revealed he was taking a leave of absence from Sesame Street in order to try and clear him name. He’s been able to do that perhaps faster than he was expecting, but it’s not known when he might be going back to work. His only comment on being cleared has been to People, who he told, ‘I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. I will not discuss it further.’

The producers of the TV sounded supportive of Kevin when the claims were made, so hopefully he’ll be back to playing Elmo soon.

The US has been in a frenzy of democracy in the last couple of days, re-electing Barack Obama, voting for gay marriage in Maine, Maryland and Washington, and deciding not to constitutionally ban it in Minnesota. However a much smaller vote was taking place in LA county, which was concerned with putting condoms onto porn performers.

The measure, which went by the catchy name “County of Los Angeles Safer Sex In The Adult Film Industry Act”, aka Measure B, sought to require adult film actors to wear condoms during shoots. It will also force porn producers to purchase a public health permit like tattoo, which they’ll only get if they follow health and safety guidelines, including rigorous testing for STDs and various other things.

The residents of LA seem to think this is a good idea, as they’ve approved the measure with 55.9% voting for it. The Los Angeles City Council has actually approved the measure back in January, but it had been on hold awaiting the outcome of this popular vote.

The porn industry had lobbied against the measure, saying that while it is a huge industry in LA (it’s worth around $20 million to the city), the measure will either force them underground or out of LA. They say consumers don’t want porn where condoms are used, so producers will have to go somewhere they don’t have to use them, and that the industry already has strict health rules in place, with performers being tested for STDs on average once a week.

Opponents have said this isn’t enough, citing recent HIV and syphilis scares and a report saying that LA County adult film stars have significantly higher rates of gonorrhoea and chlamydia than legal prostitutes in Nevada.

Despite the threat of leaving the city, after the result was announced the porn industry has decided to take stock and possibly launch legal action, in the hope they can get the law overturned.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said this was a major referendum on the subject of safer sex, ‘We have shown our resolve that we are not going to give up on this issue. Now that the people have spoken so overwhelmingly, it is the responsibility for the Board of Supervisors and the county Health Department to act immediately to enforce this law.’

To be honest, you’d hope porn producers would be responsible and put condoms on their stars anyway, both to protect the actors and to show safer sex to viewers – and if they really want to stop the rot in their industry, perhaps they could employ more actors who look like real people rather than bizarre pneumatic dolls (both male and female).