AfterElton Briefs: Wilhelmina Moves To Wisteria, Matthew Morrison Poolside, Brian Burke Steps Up and more!

Plus GLAAD honors Lee Daniels, The CW's cheerleading show, Gregg Araki goes Kaboom, and more Newsweek fallout.
First still from Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" video. Very Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love"

• Desperate Housewives needed someone to spice up the proceedings, and when casting a beyotch, one can do far worse than Vanessa Williams. Personally, I want the storyline to have Wilhelmina moving to the suburbs for some unknown reason, just to keep Ugly Betty alive.

• Bryan Batt weighs in on the Newsweek controversy, referring to the "ridiculous and homophobic and self-loathing article that came out in Newsweek."

• The GLAAD Media Awards still have a stop to make in San Francisco June 5th, where they will honor Precious director Lee Daniels and Cybill Shepherd, with performances by Sam Sparro and newly out country singer Chely Wright.

• I've plugged geek comic HijiNKS ENSUE before for their gay character, and today's strip casually drops mention of his sexual orientation in an otherwise disconnected strip in a way that I really appreciate. We're everywhere, doing normal things, just living our lives. Plus, it has a shoutout to The Browncoat Contract.

• I don't really have an angle here, but the trailer for Charlie St. Cloud is out, and Zac Efron spends a lot of it shirtless or just in a tank top. Plus he plays baseball with ghosts and sails boats. I'm not sure if it's his maturing body, or his maturing acting that makes me want to see it.

• The CW announced the cancellation of Melrose Place (goodbye, Caleb, we hardly knew you!), and the pickup of spy show Nikita and competitive cheerleading show Hellcats starring Ashley Tisdale. Frankly, if they don't give us a regular gay character somewhere in a show about competitive cheerleading, I'll be shocked. For once a stereotype should work in our favor.

• Mysterious Skin director Gregg Araki premiered his new sexual awakening film Kaboom in Cannes, and some clips are out, including one that was so NSFW it was removed from the web. But the second clip, where a female characters questions Thomas Dekker's character on his sexual orientation could have played out like a discussion of his Heroes character several years ago.

• Cartoonist Lars Vilks, who caused the controversy for his cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed is still stirring up controversy. At a recent presentation at Uppsala University he juxtaposed images of the prophet with gay imagery set to a soundtrack of Electric Six's "Gay Bar" causing a riot that was caught on video.

• Toronto Mapleleafs General Manager Brian Burke has lent his name and endorsement to anti-homophobia website MyGSA.ca. His son, Brendan, was killed in a car accident shortly after coming out in a touching story. As Brian says of the campaign, "This is something my son would have supported."h/t Campion

I pictured something more glamorous for the ABC Upfronts.

• In today's Stories from the Frontlines, we hear a mother's plea that her son, thriving in the military be allowed to serve without fear of blackmail or reprisals.

• I'm of mixed feelings on this piece by Canadian theater critic Richard Ouzounian on the Newsweek article, because while he doesn't directly advocate the closet for gay actors, he seems to long for the days when the private lives of all actors were private. Except they weren't, because Rock Hudson always had a girlfriend for premieres.

• Southland may be renewed for a new season by TNT, but they are facing major budget cuts to make that happen. The cast may be trimmed considerably, or they may only appear in certain episodes. Right now the only people signed up as regulars are Regina King and Officer Cuddleybear (Michael Cudlitz). Even Rookieboy (Benjamin McKenzie) doesn't have a deal, but I can deal as long as I keep Officer Cuddleybear.

• The real-life story of Stacie Andree's struggle to keep her New Jersey police detective girlfriend Laurel Hester's pension benefits after the officer's diagnosis with a terminal illness made headlines while the couple fought local officials in New Jersey. Now it's to be a major motion picture titled Endgame and starring Ellen Page as Andree. The script is to be written by Academy Award-nominated Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia).

• The gay Malawi couple arrested the day after they celebrated their engagement have been convicted of "unnatural acts" and gross indeceny laws dating back to the colonial era. They face a sentence of 14 years at hard labor. International pressure from human rights organization has been ineffective at swaying the government.

• Glee's Matthew Morrison appears shirtless (and viciously waxed) in a Vogue fashion editorial with model Raquel Zimmermann. Sadly, it's more about her clothes than his body, but a few shots jump out, like this one.

Great angle for Mr. Shuester.

• TV Guide Magazine sits down with Jake Silbermann of As the World Turns to get his side of the story on daytime's current gay love triangle. I know I can't wait for the fisticuffs!

• Also in daytime, James Franco is returning to Port Charles June 30th to kick off a storyline that runs over the steamy summer months. Does anyone else wonder who gives Franco career advice?

• Monday morning, the small community on Prnice Edward Island will have something many large cities don't - a library dedicated to GLBT literature and research. While larger libraries carry the material, what they often lack is a safe space to read it in. h/t Sandy

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