Michael Urie (Ugly Betty's Marc) at a recent PAPER style party

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.

• GLAAD just announced that in honor of National Coming Out Day this Saturday, a handful of networks will be airing PSAs from GLAAD's "Be an Ally & Friend" campaign. Fox Reality Channel, USA Network, IFC, Lifetime, The N, SCI FI Channel, Sundance Channel, and various ABC affiliates will be among the nets airing the celeb-filled spots. Very cool.

• In his first press conference since wiping up Beijing with his Speedo, out Aussie diver Matthew Mitcham noted that he was "surprised" and "sad" to be the only out gay man at this year's games but is proud to carry the responsibility.

• Queen Latifah (she of the hilarious SNL appearance) was profiled in-depth by The New York Times, and the ever-present questions about her sexuality didn't surface until the last page: "Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway." Well ... we don't have much of a choice, do we?

• Above, from 365Gay: Gay businessman Mitchell Gold speaks about his new book Crisis, in which he and 40+ others share their coming-out stories and call upon the conservative right to stop demonizing gay teens.

• Drew Barrymore says in an upcoming Bazaar interview that she cried when Barack Obama spoke up for gay couples having equal spousal hospital visitation rights, as it represents the kind of world she wants to live in.

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

Out (and brilliant) funnyman Stephen Fry and friends launch his new book, Stephen Fry in America

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.

• The ever-fashionable Tim Gunn will be hosting an upcoming event benefitting GMHC (Gay Men's Health Crisis): Fashion Forward will showcase the fashions of several new, established, and rising designers and benefit a worthy cause. Check out more details and a promo video over here.

• I've loved me some Bryan Batt since he delivered that hilarious Les Miz monologue in Jeffrey. But the Mad Men star's thoughtful responses in his interview with CNN about gays in Hollywood makes me love him even more.

• Straight Daniel Radcliffe has a non-sexual man-crush on his Equus co-star, the also-straight Lorenzo Pisoni. He notes, "If I was gay or a female I'd just want to marry him. He's gorgeous, and he's a really cool bloke as well." And then he blinded him with an awl.

• Above, our news-minded sibs at 365Gay have the final word on the Mark Foley intern harassment case.

• To say that the New York Musical Theatre Festival was "really gay" might seem a no-brainer. But seriously, this year's lineup is, like, reallyREALLYgay.

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

In the "better late than never" category, iconic artist Maurice Sendak, who gave us one of the greatest contributions to children's literature with Where the Wild Things Are, has officially come out in a New York Times interview:

He talks about many things in the article, including his recent triple-bypass, and his insecurities about his work even after all these years, and he's asked if there's ever been a question he's never been asked in the many interviews he's given, and responds with "well, that i'm gay".

“I just didn’t think it was anybody’s business,” Mr. Sendak added. He lived with Eugene Glynn a psychoanalyst, for 50 years before Dr. Glynn’s death in May 2007. He never told his parents:"All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew."

Children protect their parents, Mr. Sendak said. It was like the time he had a heart attack at 39. His mother was dying from cancer in the hospital, and he decided to keep the news to himself, something he now regrets.

A gay artist in New York is not exactly uncommon, but Mr. Sendak said that the idea of a gay man writing children books would have hurt his career when he was in his 20s and 30s.

I still have my copy of Where The Wild Things Are from when I was a kid. Unlike a lot of children, I never found the book scary, but rather I was fascinated with it, and would often fantasize about being a part of it.

I'm also jonesing (sorry) to see the long awaited (and much troubled) big screen, live action version coming out ... sometime. (At last update it has been put back on the schedule for next year.)

So I'm very pleased to find out that yet another genius in his field is gay, and played an integral part of my childhood. Was Wild Things or any of Sendak's other books a big part of anyone else's upbringing?

David Sedaris

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.

• Hey David Sedaris fans! Logo's OutFirst Authors series is offering a free download of David reading the short story "Solution to Saturday's Puzzle" from his latest book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

• Nonpartisan Hollywood lobby Creative Coalition will be taking Neil Patrick Harris to the Republican convention (hopefully in-character as Barney?), while Rufus Wainwright and Cyndi Lauper will perform for the Democrats.

• And speaking of NPH, Comedy Central's Indecision '08 asks which Neil Patrick Harris character would make the best running-mate for Obama. (Hint: It's not the Emcee from Cabaret.)

Margaret Cho vamps it up at the premiere of The Cho Show

• Arjan Writes interviews rising gay pop star Sam Sparro.

• And don't ask me to explain why you want to watch this clip of Tori Spelling's husband Dean McDermott demonstrating their new high-tech toilet to their housewarming party guests. You just do.

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

Yo, Hadrian! (t/y snicks) Daniel Craig to play the Emperor?

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.

• Contrary to earlier reports, The Advocate is reporting that Daniel Craig will play Hadrian in John Boorman's adaptation of Memoirs of Hadrian, which explored the Roman Emperor's relationship with his male lover. Fans of Blonde Bond know this isn't his first time playing gay, but we certainly don't mind his returning to that particular well.

• The nasty Project Runway custody battle has revealed that silver stepfather Tim Gunn received not a dime for the first season and $2500/episode for season two. (Nina Garcia, meanwhile, was paid in gallons of fresh virgin's blood.)

• No, Mister Rogers is not gay. But he did contribute to my love of cardigans and sneakers, and for that I will be participating in the drive to save his show from extinction.

• This isn't technically entertainment news, but since some people enjoy seeing a grown man cry, here's the news about today's historic overturn of Massachusetts 1913 marriage law, meaning that as of today gay couples from all 50 states can get married in the state. Seriously, real tears here.

• Folks are upset that gay author Tom Rob Smith's thriller Child 44 made the Booker Prize longlist. Not because he's gay, but because it's a thriller. It's always something!

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

Who's who? John Barrowman David Tennant Catherine Tate something something

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.

• Great news, Torchwoodies and Barrowmaniacs®: Captain Jack and team will be appearing on the Season 4 Doctor Who finale (yes, Ianto will be there, too, although he's not in the above pic).

• A book by a gay man about double-dating with his octogenarian father? What's more, it's got the brilliant title Assisted Loving? Sign me up!

• Since we have a policy of not speculating on the sexuality of celebrities, I'm just going to go ahead and wish Garfield a "Happy Birthday" without any further comment. 

• Out actor Neil Patrick Harris and gay-fave Pushing Daisies (and Wicked) star Kristin Chenowith will announce the nominees for the 60th Annual Primetime Emmys on July 17th.

• I'm as big a fan of gratuitous beefcake as anyone else, believe me. But isn't Mario Lopez trying a little hard lately?

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

Hero author Perry Moore (Photo: Joyce Dopkeen for the NYTimes)

The 20th Annual Lambda Literary Award winners were announced on Friday, highlighting the best in LGBT writing for 2007.

Among the winners were AfterElton.com fave Hero by Perry Moore (LGBT Childrens/Young Adult), Call Me By Your Name by Andre Acimen (which we reviewed here) for Men's Fiction, and AfterElton.com's own Flying Monkey, Brent Hartinger, for his double-novel, Split Screen (Bisexual). Woo-hoo!

Big congrats to all the winners, which you can find over here.

Tony winners David Hyde Pierce are and Sara Ramirez are all smiles at this morning's announcement

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 other day we mentioned that Neil Patrick Harris and Rosie O'Donnell would be among the celebrity guests on the upcoming primetime Million Dollar Password. Here's a rather hilarious interview with NPH behind-the-scenes, compete with another excellent Regis impression.

• Hiding in Hip Hop author Terrance Dean will be reading from the tell-most book this week in NYC, and taking Q&A. Check out AfterElton.com contributor Clay Cane's site for details.

• Hey Freak Show fans: Check out this kinda hilarious video of author James St. James reading from his brilliant young adult novel along with several other Lambda Literary Award nominees at A Different Light bookstore, hosted by Christopher Rice.

• In case you missed it, Neil Patrick Harris wound up in bed with Britney last night ... so that we don't have to. Thanks for taking one for the team, NPH!

• Apparently actor Mike Epps is famous enough to be stalked and harassed into a verbal and physical altercation by the bottom-feeders at TMZ. Epps regrettably stoops the their level by calling one of the paps "a fag, homosexual". 

• RADAR takes Joel Derfner, the author of Swish, to the Hello Kitty store and out for ice cream. Given that the rest of the book's title is "My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever", I'm guessing "Swish" isn't a basketball reference?

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

Gay musician Dan Gillespie Sells and his band The Feeling rock Radio 1's Big Weekend in the UK

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 password is ... gay!" CBS is running six primetime eps of Million Dollar Password with host Regis Philbin over the summer, with celebrity guests including Neil Patrick Harris, Rosie O'Donnell, and more.

• Sad: John Barrowman's dog Lewis died last week, after twelve happy years with John and Scott.

• There's a comedy show about off-duty superheroes called No Heroics in the works for British TV, and an eagle-eyed reader tipped us off that one of the heroes is gay. The character's name is Time Bomb, and he's played by James Lance. (t/y Ben Weldon!)

• Above, adorable gay actor Eric Millegan dishes to Michael Ausiello about the fate of his character (Zach) in the much-hyped Bones finale. Good news: he doesn't die. Bad news: he becomes well-acquainted with hospital pudding.

• Speculation abounds regarding the blind-item-outed figures in the forthcoming Hiding in Hip Hop gay tell-all.

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

You didn't think we'd go into Mother's Day weekend without paying tribute to those wacky ladies (real and otherwise) that gave birth to our fabulousness, did you?  If you can't surprise your Mom with Sunday brunch or a T-shirt with your face on it, be sure to call her/them and express your love and gratitude for raising such a fierce child. 

It is, after all, Mother's Day so just remember, kiddies ... without Mothers there'd be no frakkers; without Mamas there'd be no Mia's, and the most important lesson of all: those lovely ladies that brought you into this world can take you out just as easily (sorry, I had to), so celebrate them!

Sit back and relax as I honor some of my favorite real-life Moms, as well as those from television and movies that represent the good, the bad and the ugly of memorable mamas.

THE NEWBIE
Lily Van der Woodsen (Gossip Girl)

Gossip Girl's Lily Van der Woodsen is a complex character who wants to be a better woman, Mother and lover than her upper crust gal pals and family will allow and I currently heart her. Sure Lily will marry any Tom, Dick or Bart for their money and she'll go to great lengths to save face amongst the Upper East Side elite and yes, she had a mini-meltdown when evil Georgina outed her son Eric at the dinner table but she came around in the end! Kelly Rutherford has taken what could have been a one-note rich bitch and made her a woman to root for. PFLAG will never be the same.

THE SEMI-OLD PRO
Nora Walker (Brothers & Sisters)

Nora Walker meddles and occasionally messes with her children's lives but she's always best friend and supporter to her gay son Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) on ABC's Brothers & Sisters.  Sally Field is a powerful presence on screen and she can dominate the drama like no one else but she always let's her character live and breathe the world of her children (often to a fault) and she's really embraced Kevin's relationship and soon to be marriage to Scotty (played by Luke MacFarlane).  Nora could teach Lily a thing or two about patience and acceptance.

THE TRUE OLD PRO
Debbie Novotny (Queer as Folk - US)

Debbie (or PFLAG The Clown as my friend Armando likes to call her) could school all other Mother's on how to support your gay child and every fey friend that makes up his/her gay gang.  She's been crazy involved in her son Michael's (played by the adorable Hal Sparks) social and sex life so if you have questions on which gay clubs to haunt or which lube works best she's your go-to-gal.  Debbie does the gays proud and I salute her efforts and enthusiasm in grounding the sometimes outrageous Queer as Folk.

THE LEGEND
Anne Bancroft (Torch Song Trilogy's Ma Beckoff | Home For The Holiday's Adele Larson )

Anne Bancroft played two of the most memorable Gay Movie Moms from two of my favorite films with gay characters. In the classic Torch Song Trilogy she was the conflicted, confused, and sometimes pain in the ass Ma to Harvey Fierstein's Arnold Beckoff. In the end she realized that no matter how you raise them, sometimes kids really do "come that way."  In Jodie Foster's Home For The Holidays, she was the Mom most in need of a Silkwood shower and a neurotic nag to her gay son Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.) but she was never anything but amazing.  Rest In Peace Anne Bancroft (1931-2005).

THE ASS KICKER
Sandra Gangel (Beautiful Thing)

Sandra's the kind of woman that's not afraid to stand up to an abusive Father, knock out a whacked out Mama Cass lovin' neighbor, and encourage her gay son to make his own kind of music. Linda Henry's multi-layered performance in Beautiful Thing has always forced me to stand up and cheer.  She's funny, intense, and ruthless but encouraging and nurturing to not only her gay son Jamie but his teenaged lover Ste.  The final scene of the film is one of endless hope and utopia made even more amazing by Sandra's fearless efforts to accept her son.