Australian diver Matthew Mitcham/Getty Images

Twenty-year old Aussie diver Matthew Mitcham came out months before the Beijing Olympics in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. He's the first out Aussie Olympic athlete and will hopefully up the number out athletes at Beijing to more than the paltry eleven at the last Olympic games. And, hopefully, he'll get to bring his partner Lachlan along.

Dima Bilan

Russian popstar Dima Bilan took the top spot at the Eurovision contest in Serbia. I'd never heard of him before, but apparently he's fairly well-known in certain circles. No doubt, the fact he's so willing to drop trou has helped garner him attention. After the jump we've included a racier (and potentially NSFW) pic, if you're curious.

Also after the jump, pics from the French Open and the B-52s sing on The Today Show.

NewNowNext grabbed Kate and Fred of The B-52s for a quick chat. Check it out!

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• A 1948 W.H. Auden poem about gay oral sex was deemed "too dirty" to mention in a Times book review of erotic poetry. Why? Because it's downright hot filthy!

• Probably the funniest thing I've read all week: Stuff White People Like #88: Having Gay Friends

• TIME magazine is running a readers poll of their best covers, and Ellen DeGeneres' "Yep, I'm Gay" cover is #1, with almost five times the votes of the next entry, 9/11. Take note, publishers: Gay people good, terrorism bad.

• Above, another preview clip from tomorrow's Make Me a Supermodel featuring special guest mentor ... Christian Siriano! He's there to help make their catwalks ... wait for it ... fierce.

• The Stranger's Dan Savage uses this week's column as an opportunity to answer some young readers' questions about coming out, and doesn't bother sugar-coating anything: "In two short years ... you'll be able to come out to your mom and dad - and, even better, you'll be able to tell them to suck it."

• The kids at Cracked list their 6 favorite offensive Hollywood stereotypes, and whaddayaknow, the "Gay/Effeminate Serial Killer is on the list. Glad we're not the only ones complaining about these things.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• There's been some buzz over the past few days about R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe "coming out" in SPIN magazine. Interesting, considering that he actually came out to TIME magazine back in 2001 ... guess that's too "fringey" a publication to count? How many times does the poor guy have to come out?

• The new album from The B-52s (the first in 16 years) doesn't street until next week, but the whole shebang is streaming for free over here (t/y Popcandy for the tip!). I got a copy last week and I gotta say, there are some catchy tracks on this one.

• The football soccer clubs over in the UK are making good on their promise to clean up hate-speech at matches: Just this week nine Blackpool fans were banned from games due to racist and homophobic rants. Said the club's secretary: "There is no place in society for racist or homophobic behaviour and we will not tolerate such behaviour." Amen!

• In case you missed it, we have a piece on the main page about last night's 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, which features more pics of gay celebs and award-winners like the ones you see here. And yes, AfterElton.com totally won the award for Digital Journalism, for the Gay Newsmen - A Clearer Picture article by author James Hillis. Woo-hoo, James!

• Any Flight of the Conchords fans out there? The wiry, self-effacing Kiwis posed nearly-nude for Maxim. (Warning: Contains gratuitous fake mustaches and bearskin rugs.)

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

The dates and lineup for True Colors '08 have been announced. For the full list of dates, visit the official website, but here's the jist of it from the press release...

"The True Colors Tour will hit the road again this summer with an exciting new line-up of legendary and up and coming artists including headliners Cyndi Lauper, The B-52s, Rosie O’Donnell with host Carson Kressley and many more. After receiving rave reviews and a successful debut in 2007, the True Colors Tour is expanding to meet demand in many more cities. The tour will kick off Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month on May 31st at Boston’s Bank of America Pavilion. Produced by True Colors Concerts in partnership once again with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the 24 city North American tour is presented by Logo in support of the newly created True Colors Fund of Stonewall Community Foundation. The concerts feature nearly five hours of nonstop music with exciting special guests appearing on select dates throughout the tour including Wanda Sykes, Tegan and Sara, Regina Spektor, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Joan Armatrading, Indigo Girls, Nona Hendryx, Deborah Cox and The Cliks."

Needless to say, exciting lineup for an exciting event, and great news that the tour is being expanded to reach more cities. We'll be all over this one (and not just because Logo is AfterElton.com's parent company, we swear!).

• Gotta kiss them all... and kiss them multiple times, by my count:
  When it debuted in 2006, the ability to kiss boys in Bully was an optional feature that had to be discovered by players exploring every possibility in the game. However, now that the game is coming out for the X-Box, getting a kiss from one of the boys of Bullsworth Academy is a step towards earning X-Box gamerscore points (which offers bragging rights to other X-Box Live users). How's that for progress, games rewarding you for same-sex snogging. (There's also an achievement for kissing female classmates, that offers the same amount of points.)
  
  
• Small screen Paradise:
  Over at our sister site, thelinster shares the exciting news that a Strangers in Paradise TV series is in the works, with some fantasy casting for Francine and Katchoo. (My vote for Katchoo would be Katee Sackhoff, since the first time I saw her on Battlestar Galactica, I thought of the lesbian hitwoman/artist.) That got me thinking about casting the series' hot guys. I'm at a loss at actors the right ethnicity and age to play David Qin, except maybe Ivan Shaw, recently seen on The Book of Daniel. What do you think?

  

  I really like the thought of the GLAAD Media Award winner hitting the small screen and it'll be interesting how the series' gay themes would change in the adaptation -- I thought SiP creator Terry Moore showed a growing understanding of queer issues as the series went on and I'd love to see how he'd tell the story from the beginning now that his understanding of gay issues are more complex.
  
  
• A Rock Band party out of bounds:
  I'm incredibly bad at Guitar Hero so my interest in the multiplayer Rock Band hasn't been very high. However, hearing that the next set downloadable songs includes The B-52s raises my interest. Any chance a DDR player would find the drums easier than a string instrument?
  
  
• We're getting close to the point where the phrase "Everybody loves Tim Gunn" isn't hyperbole:
  This seems to be the week for my nerd crushes to reveal an appreciation for Tim Gunn. A few days after Tim appeared on The Daily Show, we got to see Grant Imahara do an imitation of Tim on Mythbusters' second James Bond special. Unfortunately, I haven't found a clip of it online, so I'll just have to share a screencap:

  

• Tales of what should be an age left behind:
  One of the biggest challenges of sharing a love of comics with someone who doesn't already enjoy that hobby comes when you encounter the comic shops that live up to those Android's Dungeon stereotypes. (I've certainly made my share of apologies for saying "Hey, can we make a quick stop to check out that comic shop?" to friends.) Sadly, this story of visiting Comics Ink in Culver City brings back those bad memories:

  "Amazing Spider-Man" #548... was not bad, despite what the retail troll behind the counter was telling customers about it. "You got cancer by touching it," he told one man buying a copy. "You've read it, but now you've got eye cancer. It's like visual AIDS."

  Sigh. "Visual AIDS." Who thought I could be nostalgic for "Worst. Comic. Ever."
  
  
• YALSA finds a Hero for young adult readers:
  We've mentioned a few times how YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, has been inclusive of gay-themed books, something that can really be a help when you're young and struggling to accept yourself. Here's another example that's been brought to my attention, among their 2008 list of Best Books for Young Adults, is Perry Moore's gay superhero tale Hero.
  
  
• Link of the week:
  I heard that popular webcomic Shortpacked had a gay character, but when I checked it out it was in the middle of a storyline that left me a bit confused if the character really was gay or if it were just a way to turn down his co-worker, Robin. However, Pink Kryptonite alerted me to the current storyline, which has Robin scheming to set Ethan up with a regular customer, Thad:

  

  I was up late last night getting caught up on Shortpacked and, Ethan is a fun character to follow. I'm hoping he and Thad get together, they'd be a fun 'opposites attract' couple.
  
  

The World's Greatest Party Band needs no introduction.

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear a compromising football-related position after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• I'm sure this has spread like wildfire today and you've all seen it already, but just in case: Sarah Silverman is F*cking Matt Damon. (Pure. F*cking. Genius.)

• Listen to the first song from the new B-52s album, a little ditty called "Funplex". (Nothing says "fun" like Fred Schneider yelling "Candelabras and a Wonder Bra!" and "I'm at the mall on a diet pill"!)

• We'll have a review of the upcoming HBO movie Bernard and Doris and an interview with its fabulous star, Susan Sarandon, next week ... but in the meantime, Michael Musto's account of the bizarre events of the movie's premiere party should tide you over (Rush Limbaugh?!).

Ralph Fiennes plays gay butler to Susan Sarandon's Doris Duke

• Beginning this evening, sister site 365 Gay and Logo television will begin airing a special interview with Hillary Clinton taped exclusively for CBS News on Logo (online beginning at 8PM EST, broadcast beginning at 10:25PM EST and running through the weekend). Clinton's campaign reached out to Logo to arrange the interview and connect with the LGBT audience. (And in case you're keeping score, John McCain's ... didn't.)

• Broadway Backwards update: Anthony Rapp (Rent, Adventures in Babysitting) will duet with Cheyenne Jackson at the fundraiser (as previously reported, Hollywood's gay it-couple Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka will be performing together as well). Be sure to check back next week for our coverage of the star-studded, gender-bending madness.

• Be sure to read Michael's hot-off-the-electronic-presses Best.Gay.Week.Ever. column, and have a great Superbowl weekend!

• I don't quite get the dancing sheep or the lyrics "'cause he's a gay boy and it shows. But it's okay, Boy. No one knows" but the Wire Daisies song "Gay Boy" is pretty catchy nonetheless.

• Queercents gets Jai Rodriguez's two cents worth on finances.

• We posted on the new B-52s album a while back (the first in 16 years!) and while this Rolling Stone article doesn't provide much new info, we're so jazzed we're posting it anyway. (Actually, Lyle has moved passed "jazzed" to full-on "blissed".)

• Dallas thinks homophobia is the way to better personal appearance. Couldn't they have just called in the Queer Eye guys instead? Imagine trying to change something by scaring folks that it might make you seem black. I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!

• And as always, don't forget this week's BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! with more on ATWT, other literary characters coming out, and this week's "gratuitous underwear shot"!

• Bradley Cooper (who memorably played gay in Wet Hot American Summer and appeared on Alias) has joined the cast of Nip/Tuck in an unspecified role -- we just know he won't be anyone's love interest. Very interesting...
  
• The fabulous B-52s are wrapping (not rapping, mind you) their first new album in 15 years. I wonder if Kate and Cindy will fight Amy Winehouse for beehive rights? Or airspace?
  
• Hey -- remember that crazy-hot gay sex scene on Passions a few weeks back? Well, the wife of the "downlow" fella finally knows. From the sounds of it, she must have missed this post -- all the clues were there! Well, except the giant "sea pod"...
• Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) and Roger Bart (The Producers, Desperate Housewives) are confirmed for the Broadway musical version of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. I just spoke to Bart briefly at the Hostel Part 2 screening the other night (he stars in the film) -- you can't say the guy doesn't know how to diversify his portfolio!