NEWS

In the wake of last week’s Supreme Court DOMA and Prop 8 rulings, several gay celebs came forward to say they are now planning to marry, and now Neil Patrick Harris is one of them.

He’s told E! News that, “Certainly, we have children and marriage is an appropriate thing to do [as] a part of their well being, so I’m sure it will be inevitable—and awesome!”

The How I Met Your Mother star has been engaged to David Burtka for five years, and they have two children.

However, they haven’t decided yet whether to marry in New York or California (both states now allow same sex marriage). He says, “We’re about to move to New York so it’s a tricky situation. I don’t know if it would be an east coast or west coast thing.”

As for the Supreme Court rulings themselves, he says, “It’s exciting. I figured it was an inevitability. I’m not one who jumps around and cheers and screams because I thought that was inevitable and was going to happen. It’s logical. If you look at public opinion polls, everyone, the majority of people, are very for people that fall in love with each other being able to own that.”

For nearly 30 years, Kevin Clash was the puppeteer and voice behind Sesame Street’s Elmo, but things came crashing down around him last November, when several men came forward to claim Clash had underage sex with them. A few days after the news broke, Clash resigned from Sesame Street.

While many felt there was a whiff of a shakedown about some of the claims, and Clash denied he’d ever had sexual contact with the main before they reached the age of consent, it was difficult to sort what was true from what wasn’t.

While the statute of limitation had passed for criminal charges, three separate accusers sued Clash for damages. Now THR reports those cases have been dismissed, with the judge deciding the claimants waited too long to file them.

The accusers had realised this might be a problem and had sought to get around it by saying that the psychological impact of what had occurred only manifested years later. The judge in New York didn’t accept this argument, as the law says a lawsuit has to be filed within six years of the event or three years after a plaintiff turns 21. All the accusers are now believed to be in their mid to late 20s.

As THR says, the claimants included, ‘an anonymous John Doe who claimed that Clash paid to fly him from Miami to New York to be sexually abused in the mid-’90s; Cecil Singleton, who says he met Clash on a gay telephone chat line in 2003; and Kevin Kiadii, who says his affair with Clash happened in 2004.’

It’s a mixed result for Clash, as while he’s won this battle, getting the case thrown out on a technicality means he hasn’t been exonerated of the original charges.The claimants may not give up though, with their attorney, Jeff Herman, telling TheWrap, “The statute of limitations is an arbitrary timeline that silences victims.

“We believe that the victims in this case are within the statute of limitations, but this ruling highlights the need for a window in New York to allow victims to have their day in court… This is the first battle. We plan to appeal the decision and continue the fight to be a voice for victims.”

Clash still faces an active case in Pennsylvania. In that state victims have until they turn 30 to file a sexual abuse claim, so it’s likely Kevin will have to go to court on that one as the claimant is currently 24. A further case, filed by a young man who claimed that he began having sex with Clash in 2009, was dropped in April.

Whatever happens in court, it’s unlikely he’ll ever be Elmo again.