WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Gays against gays

Jonathan Soroff lives in liberal Massachusetts with his male partner, Sam. He doesn't fit the common stereotype of an opponent of gay marriage. But like half of his friends, he does not believe that couples of the same gender should marry. "We're not going to procreate as a couple and while the desire to demonstrate commitment might be laudable, the religious traditions that have accommodated same-sex couples have had to do some fairly major contortions," says Soroff. Slamming gay marriage is one thing, but such bigoted opinions should not come from the mouth of a homosexual. You can't just turn against your own kind like that. And you can't just swim in excessively alkaline water just because it looks like a tropical beach. Because humanity does not seem to have learned that extremely valuable life lesson, a pool at a disused Derbyshire quarry, known locally as the Blue Lagoon, has been dyed black in a bid to deter people from swimming in it. Signs put up by the High Peak Borough Council last year around the previously bright blue water - which gets its colour from the caustic chemicals in the quarry stone - warn people it could cause skin irritations and stomach problems. The signs also state there are vehicles, rubbish, and dead animals in the water. But despite all that, and the water at the quarry at Harpur Hill (near Buxton) having a pH level of 11.3, dozens of people still swim there. A council spokeswoman said the pool contained vehicle parts and "all sorts of rubbish", and warned that the water temperature was "extremely cold".