Brad Altman and George Takei

Monday night at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York City, the Trevor Project held its 8th annual Summer Gala. Hosted by Alec Mapa, the entire evening was as entertaining as it was inspiring with a mix of individuals honored for their work with gay youth as well as musical and comedy performances.

The N, the network whose award-winning television shows Degrassi: The Next Generation and South of Nowhere have broken new ground in the positive representation of gay and questioning youth, received the Trevor Commitment Award. Receiving the award was Sarah Lindman, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of The N, who spoke emotionally about how including gay content in their teen-geared series has been a great place for gay and questioning teenagers to see that they are not alone as they come to terms with self-identity and sexuality.

The Colin Higgins Foundation honored three gay youths with their Youth Courage Awards. Kyle Rapinan, Perre Shelton, and Devon Bearden were each honored for fighting back and pulling themselves out of their respective abusive and discriminatory situations and are now thriving in their lives. In fact, Shelton received a standing ovation when he recited one of his powerful poetic works to the audience upon accepting his award.

Alan Cumming

The hilarious Alan Cumming was honored with the Trevor Hero Award for his endless work helping young people accept themselves for who they are and teaching them to be empowered, not hindered, by that self-awareness. Past recipients include Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham.

“For a long time, I’ve admired the work of The Trevor Project and the support they give to America’s gay youth, so I’m really delighted and honored to be given this award by such a great organization,” said Mr. Cumming in a Trevor Project press release. “The Trevor Project really inspired me so this award truly is special, and I will continue to try and further their goals in my life and work.”

More pics and celebs after the break!

Every year The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization that works to prevent suicide among gay and questioning youth, honors someone who can be an inspiration for queer youths with The Trevor Hero Award. Past recipients include Nathan Lane and author Michael Cunningham.

This year's award will be given to Alan Cumming, the bisexual Scottish actor who recently starred in the Sci-Fi Channel's The Wizard of Oz remake, Tin Man, and was the voice of curmudgeonly Chuck on Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. Cumming is also someone who speaks out on LGBT issues regularly with eloquence and wit.

The Trevor Commitment Award, which is given to a company or organization, will be given to cable network The N, home to gay inclusive teen shows like Degrassi: The Next Generation and South of Nowhere.

Adamo Ruggiero from Degrassi: The Next Generation

We can all probably remember what it's like to be young, struggling to accept your sexuality and not being able to find any role models to show that being gay doesn't limit who you can be. With people like Cumming in the limelight and shows like Degrassi finding mainstream popularity, one can certainly hope that the path is slowly getting easier for gay youth.

The awards will be given out at The Trevor Project Gala on June 30. The affair sounds like a gay ole' time with Alec Mapa hosting the festivities, comedienne Sandra Bernhard performaing and Adamo Ruggiero (the Degrassi actor who came out publicly earlier this year), Lauren Collins, Cheyenne Jackson and Heather Matarazzo presenting.

Out (and sunburned?) director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) at the MTV Movie Awards (Photo: Getty)

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.

• Sour Milk: The LA Times charts the development of Gus Van Sant's project, which left a 16-year-gestating rival endeavor dead in the water.

• Margaret Cho has joined the cast of Shifting the Canvas (aka The Gayest Little Movie that Ever Was, Is, or Ever Will Be, As Soon as It's Actually Filmed) playing "Marianne". She joins Alan Cumming, Matthew Montgomery, Cheyenne Jackson, Gedde Watanabe, Scott Thompson, Will Wikle, and the earthbound ghost of Paul Lynde.

• An article in the recent New York Times Magazine discussed what straight people can do for gay marriage. Easy answer: Buy us cutlery!

Ross "The Intern" Mathews at the MTV Movie Awards

• Fashion legend Yves Saint Laurent died over the weekend in Paris, at age 71, of a brain tumor.

• Ugly Betty's Alec Mapa talks about his upcoming NYC Pride show, among other things, in this revealing interview.

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

Neil gets Bruce: NPH and Vilanch co-presenting at the Academy of Magical Arts Awards

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.

• Neil Patrick Harris was the call-in trivia guest on last weekend's Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! show on NPR. (You can listen to it via the link.) The hosts asked him about his coming out before grilling him on obscure facts.

• Melbourne news anchor Peter Hitchener recently came out as gay in an interview, for no apparent reason other than that he felt like sharing it after more than 20 years of delivering the news every evening to hundreds of thousands of people. Awesome! (t/y Chris for the tip!)

• Americans for Truth's Peter LaBarbara (and I'm sorry, that's a drag name if I've ever heard one) take Out's naming of Anderson Cooper as an opportunity to bash gay media AND call Coop's integrity into question. All your bases covered, Pete? Yep, two corpses, everything's fine...

• Loath though I am to get anything close to excited about an Adam Sandler movie after the disappointing Chuck & Larry, the above You Don't Mess With the Zohan preview actually made me laugh once. And I'll take more Alec Mapa, even as a sassy hairdresser sidekick.

• This one slipped by us: Van Hansis will be among the soap stars on-hand to announce the Daytime Emmy nominations on The View on April 30.

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

We've mentioned the new Logo dating show Transamerican Love Story a few times, mostly for host gay comedian Alec Mapa, who has been turning up in everything from Ugly Betty to Dirty Laundry lately. But the show itself is actually pretty interesting, and bachelorette Calpernia Addams is very sweet in a kind of Drew Barrymore-esque way.

Here's another interesting tidbit for you trivia lovers: Addams, a longtime transgender activist, became known to many when her tragic love affair with Barry Winchell, a young soldier in the airborne infantry, was made into the movie Soldier's Girl. Winchell was murdered by his colleagues for dating a transgender woman, and the film (which earned three Golden Globe nominations) is an incredibly moving love story.

Many people remember the film but may not realize that the actor who played Addams in Soldier's Girl was none other than Lee Pace, better known these days as the doe-eyed piemaker from recent Gay People's Choice winner Pushing Daisies. Pace garnered a Golden Globe nod himself for his fearless performance.

Check out the trailer to see Pace as Addams.

The new fall TV season is upon us which means there's a new line-up of shows to discover. However, only a third of those shows will get a second season and, unfortunately, some will be worthy of a second (or third or fourth). As a fan of "Brilliant but Canceled" shows myself, here are a few shows that included gay characters and deserved a longer run.

My So-Called Life (ABC)

A teen drama that managed to find the fine line between exploring teen angst without letting their characters come off as shallow and self-obsessed, My So-Called Life managed to realistically explore issues teens faced, especially with gay teen Ricky Vasquez, memorably played by Wilson Cruz. Despite a loyal fanbase, the show struggled against Mad About You and a freshman Friends on Thursday nights and ABC canceled the series. Reruns on MTV, however, helped the show find an even larger audience.

Action! (Fox)

A cynical and bitter view of Hollywood, Action focused on Peter Dragon, a selfish and mean-spirited movie producer fighting to maintain his clout after his latest film bombs. Peter heaped abuse on his gay assistant Stuart (played by out actor Jack Plotnick) while repeatedly losing power games against Bobby Gianopolis, a gay mogul whose generous endowment would mesmerize Peter. One of Action's many memorable episodes came when Peter has sex with a closeted star (played by Richard Burgi) in order to convince him to stay closeted. The series also featured Fab Filippo, who'd later play Justin's violinist boyfrined on Queer as Folk, as a drug addicted young star.