T.R. Knight shnugs with boyfriend Mark Cornelsen yesterday in Los Angeles

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.

• The weekend wedding of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi will be the cover exclusive of this week's People Magazine. Keep 'em comin'!

• But WTF is up with CNN International's coverage of Ellen's getting 'married'? Fearquotes are soooo 2007 ... and isn't it poor etiquette to misspell the name of one of the brides in the headline? 

• On the other hand, here's a cute clip of T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl, and others wishing Ellen and Portia well on their weekend wedding.

• Above, from our sibs at 365Gay: A look at how how dark clouds over Wall Street are dressing down fashions for next season.

• Comeback of the year Robert Downey Jr. notes in the new Rolling Stone that his rumored bisexuality in the 80's was manufactured. Like everything else in the 80's!

• When is an apology about making offensive comments about an upcoming transgender contestant on America's Next Top Model not an apology? When it's coming from FOX News. ("Because their lips are moving!" ... Wait, did I mess up the joke again? Darn it all!)

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

Ben Barnes

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.

• FOXNews and FOX late night took dirty swipes at Ellen, calling her wedding announcement a "danger" to her show's sponsorship and the equivalent to talking about ones "bowel movements" on television. (Remind me to wear dark colors the next time I attend the wedding of someone from FOX.)

• Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) is set to play Dorian Gray in a new film adaptation of gay author Oscar Wilde's classic (and quite queer) morality tale of obsession and vanity. The film comes from the men behind An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, and the recent and upcoming St. Trinian's films, all of which featured or starred out actor Rupert Everett.

• In this recent audio interview, John Barrowman confirms a Torchwood third season (with an apparently very different team), hopes for season four, and mentions a variety show he has in the works.

• We'd actually heard this from the horse's mouth at last week's GLAAD Awards, but Alan Cumming has officially joined the cast of NY indie flick Shifting the Canvas as an evil real estate developer. This movie is one Paul Lynde reference away from being the gayest thing in history.

• The bill to have Harvey Milk's birthday recognized as a day of special significance in the state of California passed the Assembly, and will now go to the Senate. Meanwhile, the bronze statue to be unveiled this Thursday (Milk's birthday) will be, according to the group that secured funding for the project, the "first likeness of an openly gay person to be permanently ensconced in a civic building."

• David Hyde Pierce will host the Forget-Me-Not Gala to raise money for Alzheimer's research. Broadway hottie Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening) and Kate Burton (Grey's Anatomy) will also participate.

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

• How could I not get excited about a show with"Super Big Fun" in the title:
  I'm a huge fan of G4's Ninja Warrior, an obstacle course show which has a campy silliness, announcers with a flair for melodrama, outrageous costumes and plenty of shirtless guys. (Extra points to G4 for avoiding the subtle racism that comes up sometimes when these odd Japanese shows get adapted for American networks... yes, MXC, I'm looking at you.) So I'm pretty thrilled to hear that the network is giving us more Ninja Warrior-like shows with an upcoming programming block called "Duty Free TV", which will feature unusual shows from around the globe (though the first two new shows are Japanese).
  

• Are you up to the challenge of Mount Midori?
  And speaking of Ninja Warrior, G4 is holding its second American Ninja Challenge, seeking viewers who deserve to go to Japan and represent the United States in the next Ninja Warrior competition. I'd love to see a gay man win the challenge, so if you know someone strong enough to defeat the Warped Wall or the Salmon Ladder, why not get them to send a video? It'd be great to have someone to cheer from here. (Also, I really want to know if Toshihiro Takeda is just as cute in real life as he is on the TV.)
  
  

  

  Okay not the best picture, but a total cutie even in a bad picture.
  
  The first American Ninja winner, Colin B. is pretty easy on the eyes, too:

  

• The same old song:
  Sigh. As usual, we've got people complaining in the media about sex and violence in video games who seem to be repeating what other people are saying instead of judging the game independently. First off, the release of Bully on other platforms in the UK is bringing up all the same complaints we heard before Bully ever hit store shelves. That seems pretty silly now since most of those concerns didn't show up in the actual game. I guess we should be glad no one's complaining about the boy-kissing that also goes on in Bully.
  
  Meanwhile, the lesbian-inclusive Mass Effect has become a target for conservative pundits. It started when one conservative news site claimed claimed the game had "explicitly graphic" love scenes, with another columnist saying the game "can be customized to sodomize whatever, whoever, however the game player wishes". Bastion of journalistic credibility, Fox News picked up the story, prompting (Mass Effect publisher) EA Games to demand a correction. Unsurprisingly, Fox News' first response was a disingenuos one. It'll be interesting to see how that develops...
  

Ever-adorable Top Chef judge Ted Allen (shopping for jeans)

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.

• Top Chef: Chicago has announced the roster of Cheffersons for the show's fourth season, and we've been told by Bravo that there are no openly gay men on this season (a first since Season 1). Ted Allen will be back as a judge, and there are lesbian contestants, but I don't know ... with Ted only making occasional appearances, it was Dale who kept me coming back every week last season.

• Amy Winehouse reminds Boy George of ... himself?

• MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski has joined colleagues Keith Olbermann and Dan Abrams in slamming John Gibson's mocking of Heath Ledger's death, noting, "I don't know how you stay on the air after something like that, quite frankly." Brzezinski gained fame for refusing to read (and tearing up) a news item on Paris Hilton and calling for Don Imus to be fired following his racist comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

• In related news, GLAAD has called for anyone offended by Gibson's comments to email and call as many people at Fox News as they can. While you have them on the phone, be sure to tell them you're sorry you dropped a house on their sister.

In addition to Keith Olbermann naming Fox News' John Gibson the "Worst Person in the World" for the insensitive insensitive jokes he made within an hour of news of Heath Ledger's death (which linked his death to his performance in Brokeback Mountain), MSNBC colleague Dan Abrams takes the notion of people connecting Brokeback to Heath's death head-on, calling it "insanity".

Definitely worth a look.

So much for respect for the dead or a modicum of decency. Think Progress has the audio of Fox radio's John Gibson mocking Heath Ledger's death and making all sorts of suppositions about what killed him. He plays clips from Brokeback Mountain where Ennis worries about dying and then wonders if Heath just lost money in the stock market. Classy fellow, no?

• Liberals are putting pressure on companies that advertise on Fox News, due to the channel's notorious lack of "fair and balanced" coverage. Bill O'Reilly lifts head for a moment, then goes back to devouring kittens.
• Scissor Sisters want your fan videos for their second DVD video collection. Hey -- it's cheaper than hiring Michel Gondry.
• An interesting article on gays in business in Australia ran today in the otherwise straight news/business publication The Age. I'm almost sorry to admit I like the "Fruits in Suits" bit.





• "ABC Family"'s uber-gay friendly Greek just got picked up for another ten episodes. That means we'll keep getting more of one the best new gay characters on TV.
  
• Towleroad has a sneak peek at latest issue of DNA.
  

The "fair and balanced" network that is FOX News has struck again. On the June 21 segment of The O'Reilly Factor viewers were treated to a "report" about lesbian gangs terrorizing the nation. Seriously. One Rod Wheeler, a Fox News crime analyst breathlessly reports about gangs of lesbian roving our city streets, beating up heterosexuals, and indoctrinating kids while at it. Again, seriously.

Said Wheeler, a former Metropolitan D.C police officer:

"Well, you know, there is this national underground network, if you will, Bill, of women that's lesbians and also some men groups that's actually recruiting kids as young as 10 years old in a lot of the schools in the communities all across the country. And they actually carry a number of weapons. And they commit a number of crimes...we've actually counted, just in the Washington D.C. area alone, that's Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, well over 150 of these crews. … And they — like I said, they recruit these kids to be members of these gangs."

Thank heavens we have Fox to let us know the real threat in the U.S. isn't straights gay-bashing us, it's us attacking them! And according to Wheeler some of the women carry pink pistols.

Naturally, Bill being the excellent journalist he is, vetted all Wheeler's claims before airing them to a national audience, right? Not so fast. Thanks to the excellent Southern Poverty Law Center -- a civil rights watchdog group -- we know that isn't the case. The SPL contacted several police headquarters in the region and they have no idea what Wheeler is talking about. And when the group contacted Wheeler he couldn't provide the name of a single police chief, cite a media source, or any other proof to back up his claims about lesbian gangs in the D.C. area.

Turns out Wheeler is a member of Jericho City of Praise, a conservative mega-church actively working against gay rights. Hmm, I wonder what might be behind Wheeler's outlandish claims? As for O'Reilly, this is yet another in a long line of homophobic garbage reports he has filled our airwaves with. Both he and Fox are forces of evil in this world. But what really gets me are the numerous gay folks at Fox who delude themselves into thinking their presence somehow helps gay visibility. I'm sure the network treats their gay employees just fine. That will never stop them from demonizing us again and again.

Here is a link to Wheeler's website or drop him an email at info@rod007.com. As always, be polite when making your point.

The clip from O'Reilly's show is after the jump. And for a more humorous take, check out Sarah Warn's post over at AfterEllen.com. And they say lesbians don't have a sense of humor!