AfterElton Briefs: "True Blood" Strips Down, Colbert Worries About "Gay Drain," and Northstar Flies Again

Plus Elisabeth Hasselbeck tries to have it both ways, Kevin Jennings speaks up, and you can go "At Home with John Barrowman."

I want to be the guy who applies the blood.

• The True Blood trio graces the cover of this week's Rolling Stone. While most quotes have been about Stephen Moyer's naughty discussion of penetration ... of fangs, I think creator Alan Ball is much more interesting:

To me, vampires are sex. I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed.

• Blastr.com decided to write 20 Gay Characters We Love from Sci-Fi Movies and TV, which we've done before. But my biggest amusement was the slap they took at parent company SyFy over Eureka's Vincent, the only gay in the village.

Vincent is Eureka's friendly chef and owner of the fabulous Café Diem. When he's not in his restaurant, serving concoctions like Vinspresso ice cream and adding helpful commentary to the mystery of the week, he's ... he's ... not dating. Vincent's romantic life is limited to watching others play out theirs, which is sad, because he's so darned likable. If the writers of Eureka had more compassion, they'd give Vincent the boyfriend—and the screen time—he very much deserves. And maybe even a last name.

• Last night on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert advocated building a fence along the northern and southern borders of the United States to prevent "gay drain" to countries that allow for gay marriage. He's got some great one liners.

• My lesbian crush Rachel Maddow is set to receive the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award which "recognizes individuals who courageously promote democratic values, defend religious freedom and reinvigorate informed civic participation."

• Last night on Twitter, Haven's sexy Eric Balfour quite clearly bemoaned the stay of Judge Walker's order striking down Prop 8. At which point he was horribly attacked by both sides of the issue by people who understood what he said and those who misread it. He took a lot of time to talk to everyone about the issue individually, including this:

I've read some pretty awful stuff written about me on twitter and I've always laughed but the fact that those two people would say something as ignorant and untrue about me really bums me out. The issue of Prop8 is very close to my heart. I have friends and loved ones who's dreams of marriage and equality have been crushed by this awful piece of legislation! Get your facts straight before you write BULLS**T on twitter! #NOH8

Eric Balfour's wounds here are stage makeup, but Twitter got pretty rough for the equality supporter.

• GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings spoke recently about the anti-gay right-wing attacks agaimst him in an attempt to get him to resign as assistant deputy secretary at the Department of Education for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. "As the leading proponent of stopping bullying in America, I was not allowed to be bullied out of my job."

• Pennies in Protest has a step-by-step guide on how to turn a visit from a hate group like Westboro Baptist Church or NOM into a fundraiser for good causes.

• Tim Gunn is going to appear on Gossip Girl in October as himself. It could really be in any role, since Blair's mom is a designer, the girls are fashionistas, Eric needs a gay role model and Jenny a wannabe designer. With any luck he'll also remind Dan that plaid is not appropriate for all occasions.

• Jim McCann is bringing back Alpha Flight for a one shot, including Northstar, Sasquatch, and all the dead members. Our resident comic genius Lyle says it's the first time an out writer has tackled Northstar. While it's written as a one shot, if popular enough, it could turn into more.

• Hot In Cleveland is wrapping up, and I have to say I've been pretty disappointed in the series as a whole. The episodes don't seem to have a plot or direction. But they do seem to be able to write great one-liners for Betty White's Elka. And here they all are in convenient digest form.

• In response to Target's political donations to anti-gay groups and an unwillingness of the company to state they won't continue trying to buy elections (though they pale next to News Corp's $1 million donation to the Republican Governor's Association), MoveOn.org has produced an anti-Target ad. It will run inside Minnesota and also nationally on MSNBC urging a boycott of the retailer.

• Graham Norton will host a fundraising dinner for Manchester Pride. As wild as the funnyman can get for a BBC audience, I can't imagine what happens in front of a gay crowd.

• German courts have ruled that gay couples must be given the same inheritance rights as straight couples. Currently, married couples pay taxes on an inheritance at anywhere between 7%-30%, while gay couples in registered partnerships pay between 17%-50% of an inheritance in taxes.

• In an interview with Fancast, The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck says that among the things people would be surprised to know about her is that she supports gay marriage and a woman's right to choose. My issue is the glorified Survivor loser then loudly supports only politicians who are against these things, which makes her stated views pretty much pointless.

• I tried not to post this mock-up ("mock" being the operative word) of a Levi Johnston for Mayor ad from SlateTV. In the end I just couldn't help myself.

• In the August 24th edition of OK! Magazine (presumably the UK edition), John Barrowman and Scott Gill invited the magazine into their lives for "At Home with John Barrowman" and talk about their lives, their relationship, and what they would do if they were invisible for a day.

• Eden Riegel, currently starring on The Young and the Restless but best known as Bianca on All My Children will guest star on an episode of Castle with Nathan Fillion.

• The Gay and Lesbian Alumni/ae of Notre Dame and St. Mary’s College will present the 2010 Tom Dooley Award to former Notre Dame Asst. Vice President of Student Affairs Sister M.L. Gude, C.S.C. The group will also give a “Distinguished Alumni” Award to Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, Notre Dame class of ’91 and an openly gay 19-year combat veteran of the United States Air Force. The awards dinner will be in South Bend, IN on Saturday, October 2.

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