Elton John and David Furnish at the UK premiere of Australia (Getty)

Following this 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.

• Elton John and David Furnish showed up at the UK premiere of Australia (which hasn't been doing as well as hoped. I think I'll wait for Wolverine for my Hugh Jackman fix). In case you missed it, we just did a revealing interview with David in which he discusses Elton's recent controversial gay marriage comments.

• Hot on the heels of being named "Sports Performer of the Year", out Olympian Matthew Mitcham has been named "Chief of Parade" at next year's Sydney Mardi Gras. Matthew says he's honored to lead the festivities, which will be held in March: "There is such a huge buzz in the city on parade night and it really does bring the whole city together."

• Good news for fans of actress Candis Cayne. Her ABC series Dirty Sexy Money may be biting the dust, but she's announced that she'll be appearing next year on two episodes of the totally insane FX drama Nip/Tuck (insert your own quip here).

Charlie and Marcus in Survivor: Gabon

• The Survivor: Gabon bromance between gay Charlie Herschel and straight Marcus Lehman is still being discussed, even after they've both left the reality competition. Charlie has given an interview in which he discusses CBS's editing of their relationship: "They often made a joke out of the relationship sometimes, which I didn’t appreciate. It made it look like I wasn’t strategizing, I wasn’t playing the game, and all I was doing was lusting after Marcus, which certainly wasn’t the case.” This mirrors what Marcus told us last month when we interviewed him. Hopefully we'll see these two on Amazing Race someday (or better yet, their own sitcom!)

• Remember the controversy a few months ago when Bravo aired Brokeback Mountain and edited out a kissing scene? Well, viewers in Italy are equally incensed with broadcaster RIA for making the same cut. What's their excuse? They blame "internal organizational issues" for the mistake, and promise to run the unedited version soon at a later time.

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

Jorn Weisbrodt and Rufus Wainwright bundle up to visit the NYC Museum of Modern Art (GETTY)

Following this 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.

• Theater director Jorn Weisbrodt and his celebrity boyfriend, singer Rufus Wainwright, braved the unseasonably cold weather last night to attend the opening of "Pour Your Body Out", a multimedia installation by artist Pipilotti Rist at the NYC Museum of Modern Art. A "multimedia installation"? Isn't that what Carrie's Russian boyfriend did on Sex & the City? And no one could quite figure out what it meant?

• True Blood star Ryan Kwanten has given an interview to POPWRAP in which he talks about working with out producer Alan Ball and all the nude scenes he's been required to do: "But I am putting myself in Mr. Ball's careful hands so it's never just nudity for nudity's sake - it always comes from a strong story point."

• A documentary to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first World AIDS Day has been commissioned by BBC Radio 2. How AIDS Changed America will be presented by actor Paul Michael Glaser (who lost both his wife and daughter to an AIDS-related illness) and will air on BBC Radio 2 on December 2nd. The doc will combine archival footage and new interviews and "look back at nearly three decades of pain, prejudice and progress in the American peoples' struggle with the virus."

Niall delivers a crippling blow to Craig on Hollyoaks Later.

• Good news for Holllyoaks fans. The much anticipated return of the evil Niall (Barry Sloane) will occur November 24th on the late night spin-off Hollyoaks Later. He's set to do battle with the gay character of Craig (Guy Burnet), who's returning for this special showdown. The last time we saw Craig he was riding off into the sunset with boyfriend John Paul.

• And finally, today is the tenth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. It was founded ten years ago to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered November 28, 1998. The annual event is designed to raise public awareness of anti-transgender hate crimes and to encourage people to be allies to the transgender community. To mark the occasion, GLAAD is premiering a new PSA starring transgender actress Candis Cayne.

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

Clockwise from top left: Daniel Leary, Jennie Garth,
Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer, Candis Cayne

Gay and gay-friendly celebrities were out on October 10th to support GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. Mores for Gays host Daniel Leary spent some time doing interviews on the red carpet.

 
Lance Bass and Hillary Duff

The GLSEN Awards took place over the weekend in Beverly Hills and a host of gay and gay-friendly stars came out in support of gay youth. Check 'em out!

Dirty Sexy co-stars Candis Canyne and William Baldwin
 

Jennie Garth
 

More after the jump!

The quirky Pushing Daisies (you're required to use "quirky") and nighttime soap Dirty Sexy Money begin their second seasons tonight on ABC, and both gay faves (Pushing Dirty Sexy Daisies) are hoping to avoid the dreaded sophomore jinx.

Pushing Daisies is the creation of the out Bryan Fuller, and continued his string of quirky eccentric shows like Dead Like Me and the gone-too-soon Wonderfalls (curse you, FOX!).

It debuted to fantastic reviews and great ratings, but by the season finale had lost half of its audience. Most critics blame the erratic second half of the season for the loss in viewership, but the writer's strike didn't help, shortening the season to just nine episodes.

If you haven't seen it, and want to give it a look, here's a sampling of some characters to watch for (and if you have seen it, it's a refresher, since the last original episode was last December!).

(L-R) Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene, Lee Pace, Anna Friels, Kristin Chenoweth, Chi McBride

Ned (Lee Pace) is a pie shop owner who can touch a dead person and bring them back to life. There's a catch, though. If he touches that person again, they die for keeps. Oh, and if he does bring someone back to life, someone else has to die instead ... unless he touches that same person again within sixty seconds. Um ... got that?

That makes things difficult for his love interest, Charlotte aka "Chuck" (Anna Friels). They were childhood friends, but when they meet again, it's under deadly circumstances. She's dead. She was murdered, but he brought her back to life. Alas, this means they can never touch (until the final episode or a season cliffhanger).

Emerson (Chi McBride) is a former P.I. who finds out about Ned's ability and offers to keep his secret, for a price. Ned must bring murder victims back to life, find out what happened to them, then let them die again. Then he and Emerson will split the reward money.

Vivian (Ellen Greene) and Lily (Swoosie Kurtz) are Chuck's aunts, and total loons. Lily lost an eye from a tragic kitty litter accident, and her big secret is revealed when she confesses to Olive to actually being Chuck's mother.

As played by Kristin Chenoweth, Olive is a waitress at the Pie Hole, who has the hots for Ned. She's also a former jockey who won't hesitate to break out an Olivia Newton-John musical number.

Oh ... and be sure and keep an eye on the Coroner played by Sy Richardson, who should have some interesting scenes this season.

After the break, take a look at NYC's most dysfunctional brood (No, not the AfterElton.com bloggers ... this is a rich dysfunctional brood)...

Dirty Sexy Money's Natalie Zea and Candis Cayne at the Season 2 premiere party (Photo: Getty)

After the following 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.

• I don't know which I find more disturbing: that former NYC Mayor Ed Koch has posted a review of Another Gay Movie ... or that I agree with it.

• Out actor Alan Cumming is trying to become an American citizen by November so that he can vote. We're talking Obama here, not American Idol.

• Speaking of, lovable Monchichi American Idol also-ran David Archuleta has a video out for his first single, "Crush" ... and folks are confused as to whether the video is suggesting that the crushee in question is a boy or a girl...

Ang Lee takes Woodstock

• Above, director Ang Lee kicks off the first day of filming Taking Woodstock (starring comedian Demetri Martin as gay Woodstock organizer Elliot Tiber) with a traditional Big Luck ceremony. EW had the exclusive ... can you pick out Martin, Emile Hirsch, and Jonathan Groff in the crowd?

• The Wall Street Journal (well, an assistant editor for The New Republic in an editorial for the WSJ) discusses the significance of the first RNC in a decade where gays weren't used as a scare tactic.

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

Michael Ausiello certainly knows how to start his first week at Entertainment Weekly with a bang: he's given quite the tantalizing blind item about a "sorta-hit series" with a "humdinger of a curveball for the upcoming season that is so twisty it will take the program in a completely new direction — and an inspired (not to mention timely) direction, at that!" Even better, "The twist in question is a little gay. No, make that a lot gay."

Now, that certainly gets the wheels turning, especially with those tantalizing clues: a modest hit and one that would get taken into a totally new direction with this gay twist. I'm ruling out popular ensemble shows like Lost or Heroes since it would take a lot for a gay revelation to take the show in a new direction. Also, any show we frequently discuss here at AfterElton.com is probably out of the running, unless there's a show about to turn a "barely-there gay" into the focus of the show (waves in the direction of The Office). Also, unless Ausiello and I have very different ideas of "completely new direction", most procedural shows can be ruled out unless one of them is going to turn into a same-sex Hart to Hart.

So, what "sorta-hit" shows could go in a new direction with a gay twist? The Big Bang Theory (which has already pinged some viewers' gaydar) would fit the bill. The show is currently about two heterosexual male nerds crushing on their female neighbor. If one of the guys turned out to be gay, it would change the show drastically while making it something unique. (How many gay nerds are there on scripted TV?) Then again, when last we saw 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), he had set off a gay bomb in a small Pentagon office ... what if the results were permanent? Would that take the show in a new direction?

Ausiello posts a picture from My Name is Earl with his teaser but adds that "it would be a mistake to read too much into the photo above." So is that just a red herring?

Oh, and in case there are any "Wincest" fans out there, Ausiello has the following bit of disappointment:

And no, Sam and Dean hooking up on Supernatural does not qualify as an intelligent guess.

Hm, that would leave room for Dean to come out (it would give an explanation for his gay baiting humor). Then again, that wouldn't be much of a new direction.

Meanwhile, Zap2It's Korbi Ghosh has some gay spoilers for Desperate Housewives and Dirty Sexy Money. Check them out and get yourself spoiled after the break...

Candis Cayne and Cyndi Lauper at the NewNowNext 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.

• Cyndi Lauper's latest video, for her dance track "Into the Nightlife", was directed by Lauper herself ... at gay dance club Splash in New York City. Seriously. You can check it out over here. (And be on the lookout for a cameo by Colton Ford!)

• We reported back in September about the in-the-works Brokeback Mountain opera, and today we've gotten word that it will premiere in 2013 as a part of the New York City Opera's season. Charles Wuorinen is composing the opera.

• Worst. Stocking. Stuffer. Ever.: Heath Ledger "Joker" action figures are fetching a pretty penny on eBay, and rumors say that Mattel is scrambling to redesign the figure (to be less Ledger-y, one would assume) before The Dark Knight comes out.

Olivia Newton John shows her Pride in Los Angeles

(Photo: Getty Images)

• Olivia Newton John, Kimberley Locke, and Leeza Gibbons (yes, I just said "Leeza Gibbons") were among the entertainers at yesterday's Gay Pride festivities in Los Angeles.

• The L.A. Times has a preview of what's in store for this Sunday's Tony Awards, including presenters and performances, including the cast of Xanadu's chosen number, "Don't Walk Away". (And no, they're not going to turn into cartoon birds during the number. Though that would be awesome.)

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