AfterElton Briefs: Brolin talks Penn's "Milk" Oscar chances, Drag History Month, and more!

Milk stars Sean Penn and Josh Brolin at last night's NY Film Critic's Circle Awards

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.

• Efforts to combat homophobia in the sporting world have been ratcheted up a notch, with an anti-hate campaign asking big football stars like David Beckham to participate in an anti-homophobia PSA. The PSA has already secured funding from the Football Association.

• Upsetting the usual "gay for an Oscar" theory, Josh Brolin insists that Sean Penn will win the Academy Award for Milk because he smiled so damn much.

• Above, Varla Jean Merman (Girls Will Be Girls) in a PSA for National Drag History Month. Now you know! (And knowing is half the battle.)

• In a recent interview, author John Irving shared that he's particularly a fan of gay author Edmund White. Perhaps not unrelated: this gay reader is a particularly a fan of straight author John Irving! (Setting Free the Bears still rocks my world.)

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

This guy!