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.

• British LGBT advocacy group Stonewall has secured the support of celebs like James Sutton (Hollyoaks) Dan Gillespie-Sells (out lead singer of The Feelings), Sir Ian McKellen, Dannii Minogue, comedian Alan Carr, and Mark Feehily (Westlife) to promote the "Some people are Gay. Get over it!" anti-bullying campaign.

• The IFP will honor out director Gus Van Sant at this year's Gotham Awards, and in conjunction with the filmmaker's latest project will be donating cameras to New York's Harvey Milk High School and starting a mentorship program (in conjunction with NewFest) to encourage young LGBT filmmakers. It's news like this that makes it worth getting up in the morning, yaknow?

• Okay, this review of the disastrous remake of The Women from The Stranger written by "Diane Keaton" is genius. It had me at "What's up, bitches?"

Soon-to-be wed lovebirds George Takei and Brad Altman

• Everyone's favorite wacky gay uncles, George Takei and hubby Brad Altman, will wed officially this Sunday. It's not too late to send them a blender! (Seriously, that's awesome, and we send our best!)

• Okay, so we're not exactly BFFs with some of the folks at Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. But having Shirley Manson's new character pose as a urinal? Somebody over there really does have issues.

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Two unidentified men kiss onstage during Girl Talk's set at the weekend's All Points West Festival

(Image: 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.

• The speed with which recent ads perceived by many to be anti-gay were pulled from the air has the industry wondering if the tide has shifted regarding homophobia in advertising, with one exec noting that he has at least seen "baby steps" in the right direction. (The steps were of course sponsored by Payless Kids.)

• Gentlemen and gentlemen, meet your new Hercules. Yes, really.

• Big Brother update: Houseguest Ollie, a preacher's son, prides himself on not cursing or drinking, But calling his fellow players "faggot" and having sex on-camera with April? Now that he's totally into.

• Remember that one time we wrote about UK television presenter Steve Jones and how comfortable he is with gay themes and kisses and stuff? Above, check out a clip of when he kissed Scissor Scissors frontman Jake Shears during an interview, for no apparent reason. At least he puts his mouth where his money is.

• Sir Ian McKellen and Simon Callow have spoken out publicly against an anti-gay Catholic bishop. (For what it's worth, Charles Dickens and Gandalf could kick this guy's miter any day.)

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Cheyenne Jackson at this weekend's Broadway Barks 10

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.

• Shocker! The Mormon Church isn't happy about the Mormons Exposed: Men on a Mission 2009 calendar. The only thing that surprises me is that it took them this long to get upset about it.

• The Washington Post ran an interesting article about how gay people are coming out earlier, focusing on a 15-year-old African-American kid in Maryland. His uncommonly mature take on the taunts he's used to suffering for being gay: "If you have a birthmark on your leg for so long, you don't even notice it."

• Even Sir Ian McKellen has been the victim of death threats because he is gay, although he says that they have dropped off considerably in recent years. Uh, duh ... who's stupid enough to mess with Gandalf?!

Robert Gant

• Two of our best and brightest out stars, Cheyenne Jackson and Robert Gant, both celebrated birthdays over the weekend. Jackson is 33, while Gant is a ripe 40.

• Five more years! Out Brothers & Sisters producer Greg Berlanti has re-signed for five more years with ABC Studios, where he'll no doubt be bringing us more of the gay.

• And in sorta-gay casting news, Val Emmich has been cast as Betty's new love interest in Ugly Betty. Why sorta-gay? The actor's straight, but most of us know him as the object of male affection in 30 Rock's "Gay for Jamie" episode. Oh, and he's adorable, which never hurts.

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Out icon Sir Ian McKellen will bring his talents to the small screen in a six part "re-imagining" of the cult 60's show The Prisoner.

Ian will star as Number Two, one of the men in charge of "The Village", who makes life difficult for Number Six (played by Jim Caviezel, who last played Jesus), a man who awakens to find himself trapped in this strange environment.

According to the producers, there will be something for fans of the original, but the new version will stand alone.

"There will be nods and winks and references back to the original, but I don't think that they'll feel in any way that their original has been tarnished." "Even though this would fall under sci-fi traditionally, this is a drama at its core." While the original show worked as a metaphor for the paranoia of the Cold War, AMC says that the remake will reflect 21st stressors like constant surveillance and the conflict between liberty and security.

I don't remember much about The Prisoner, but I hope they try and keep at least one lasting, nightmare-inducing image: That creepy, giant ball thing that would bounce around and envelop people who tried to escape. I tried to recreate it with Bubble Yum and a a little green Army Man, but the subject ... did not survive.

After the break, you can see the ultra-groovy opening to the original series ... in French!

Shaun and Paul from Janice Dickinson (Photo: Brook Pifer)

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.

• It looks like gay couple Shaun and Paul from last season's Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency have been cut from the next season (does this mean they're still models?).

• We wrote about tonight's episode of 30 Days yesterday, focusing on the show's exploration of a conservative religious woman who lives with a gay couple and their kids. GLAAD has criticized the episode for the way that false anti-gay information is presented in it uncorrected.

• For hardcore Torchwoodies: the show's official magazine (from Titan, who specializes in this kind of thing) came out last week and it covers everything from Ianto's rise to prominence to the fashions of Captain Jack.

George Carlin

• The Independent has released its annual Pink List of the UK's most influential gays and lesbians, and it's filled to the brim with our faves, ranging from Sir Ian McKellen to Russell T Davies to Derren Brown.

• A reader kindly pointed out that comic legend George Carlin, who passed away over the weekend from heart failure at age 71, played Nick Nolte's gay neighbor in The Prince of Tides (directed, of course, by Barbra Streisand). Here's an interesting interview with Carlin from the time about how he approached the role: "I've always admired gay humor," he said. "It's bittersweet, bitchy, to-the-point and honest. So that was already in me somewhere." (t/y Booker Guy!)

• And just because it's close to my heart, today marks the 38th anniversary of the release of the colossally bizarre and pretty much disastrous (and therefore totally awesome) film adaptation of Gore Vidal's gender-bending masterwork Myra Breckinridge.

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Boyzone's Stephen Gately

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.

• Boyzone, a UK boyband from the 90s with an out gay member (Stephen Gately, pictured above) has reemerged with a new sexier look to match their more mature audience. Nice to see that when this article mentions that all the bandmembers are now married, they include Gately, who entered into a civil partnership with his fella in 2006.

• This week's Candorville comic is tackling the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California. (t/y Lyle!)

• The NY Times' Dennis Lim recently wrote a nice, wistful piece on "gay punk provocateur" Derek Jarman (a documentary on the late filmmaker, Derek, is headed this way) that includes an interview with Jarman's longtime friend Tilda Swinton.

• Sir Ian McKellen, one of our biggest and brightest out gay stars, turned 69 years young on Sunday. Happy birthday, Sir!

• Prolific director, producer and actor Sidney Pollack died yesterday of cancer at age 73. He directed such classics as Tootsie, Out of Africa, and They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and played Will Truman's father on Will & Grace.

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.

• The "inspiring", "family-friendly" movie Tru Loved, which tells the story of queer youths in high school, has been selected as the opening night film of this year's Newfest and will play LA's Outfest as well. The flick stars Bruce Vilanch, Jasmine Guy, Alec Mapa, Cynda Williams, Jane Lynch, and more.

• Gay wizard lovers rejoice! Sir Ian McKellen has said that he will be playing Galdalf in the Hobbit films for recently-signed director Guillermo del Toro.

• Actor Jason Lewis (who played Kevin's closeted boyfriend on Brothers & Sisters and will soon be seen as Samantha's mancandy in the Sex and the City movie) chatted about playing gay at the recent Los Angeles GLAAD awards ceremony.

• James Franco isn't afraid to cry on camera, and he isn't afraid to show you how he does it (above). I wonder what kind of "sense memory" he'll utilize when he plays Harvey Milk's lover, Scott Smith, in Milk? (Warning, a little NSFW language in the clip)

• Check out these snaps from the recent Easter Bonnet competition (a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS), featuring out stars David Hyde Pierce, Harvey Fierstein, and Project Runway fave Chris March.

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

Cultural Institution Sir Ian McKellen

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 Conversation with Sir Ian has been nominated for a 2008 Webby Award, under the "Cultural Institutions" category. I don't know that I'd put the man out to pasture just yet with that designation, but I suppose we've all probably been called worse things.

• I don't know if anyone has been catching EW's America's Next Top Doll webseries, but this week's makeover episode is just crazy enough reason to start tuning in. (I particularly like the mermaid's makeover, where they cut off her fins so she can be "where the people are".)

• Is He Who Blogs Behind the Rows really cleaning up his act? We'll believe it when the shocking footage of him rescuing a kitten out of a tree surfaces on TMZ.

• Why is Harvey Fierstein serenading Kathie Lee Gifford? Or is MadTV syndicating sketches to The Today Show now?

• Dan Savage, the outspoken gay writer behind Savage Love (I started reading him way back when it was called "Hey, Faggot") and the brilliant Skipping Towards Gomorrah, has lost his mother. His column today is a heartfelt remembrance of her, and our sympathies are with him and his family.

• Jerry Mitchell (whom we recently interviewed about Step It Up & Dance) is publishing a photo-filled book this summer about his other campfest, Broadway Bares, the strip-show that has raised a heck of a lot of money for Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS. The racy cover can be found after the break.

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