AfterElton Briefs: Aussies love gay films, Germany gets their own gay channel, and more!

These gay faves will soon be intently studied by philatelists all over Australia

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 Australian Film Institute has released the results of a poll taken to name the top five Aussie films of all time. Included among the five are two gay faves, Muriel's Wedding (which brought us the fabulous Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths), and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (which I think it's safe to say has become one of the iconic gay films of all time). The films will be honored with their own postage stamp, which will go on sale Monday.

• Starting Saturday, gay viewers in Germany will have their very own channel as Timm makes its debut. The channel (whose main slogan is "We Love Men") will feature six hours of programming a day including gay-themed films, docs, and imported shows like Queer as Folk. Hey, maybe Christian and Olli can get their own spin-off!

• The editor of a small town paper in Kansas has come out swinging over gay-baiting in a local election race. Ben Wearing, the executive editor of the Salina Journal, penned an on-line scathing attack against the people who insist on making a candidate's sexuality an issue.

• The video above perfectly demonstrates what this editorial from USA Today is saying about the lengths to which pro-Proposition 8 supporters are willing to go. This is a polished, professionally done ad that just happens to be filled with lies and fear-mongering, and uses that bottom-of-the-barrel, last resort gimmick known as "exploitation of children". And believe me, this ad is just the tip of the appalling iceberg.

• And finally, we're sure you've been following this, but that effigy of Sarah Palin in West Hollywood has been taken down. Apparently, homeowner Chad Michael Morrisette spoke with the mayor, and decided the best course of action would be to remove the display (although he did not remove the one of John McCain as a flaming Santa in the chimney). We're interested to hear your thoughts on this matter. Were you appalled that someone would think this was a good idea, or do you think it's much ado about nothing?

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

This guy!