AfterElton Briefs: The Battle of the Fangs, James Franco Snogs Himself, Rev. Jackson Speaks up for Marriage-Equality, and More!

Happy 34th Birthday to adorable Dominic Monaghan, and if you've been feeling strange, cold chills up and down your spine today, it's because 49 years ago, the Coultergeist was unleashed unto the world. Light a black candle sometime today.

• The season finale of Dexter is this Sunday, but don't change the channel when its over! Showtime will present the first 20 minutes of new show Shameless immediately afterward, before premiering the entire show on January 9th. In case you haven't seen it, below you can see the Shameless trailer.

• The Human Rights Campaign plans to convert the space that was formerly Harvey Milk’s camera shop on Castro Street into a gift shop selling HRC branded items, and The Log Cabin Republicans and Dustin Lance Black are not too keen on the idea.

• Details has an article about Cheer NY, the all-adult cheerleading group (made mostly of gay men) who cheer for charity.

• Rev Jesse Jackson gave an impassioned speech to marriage-equality supporters outside the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals courthouse in San Francisco today, saying "We cannot not sit idly by while Prop 8 seeks to target gays and lesbians for a disfavored legal status, as America’s newest second-class citizens."

• By a razor-thin margin, True Blood's Bill Compton beat Eric Northman in the Battle of the Fangs. It raised $70,000 dollars for charity, and as the winner, Stephen Moyer got to choose the t-shirts that he and Alexander Skarsgard wore. Just let me state for the record that this contest MUST HAVE BEEN FIXED! No way would bland Bill beat the fiery Eric.

• The Miss America Pageant will return to network TV for the first time in six years next month, with ABC giving the pointless relic another shot at being mocked. The judges for this year include Joy Behar and out Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry.

• I think we should hold the next AfterElton board meeting at one of these Ultra-Gay Hotels. But I want my own room this time. Last time Ed got drunk on Appletinis and "watered" the rubber tree plant in our room.

• Below you can see James Franco as part of The New York Times series on "performers who defined cinema in 2010 capturing classic screen types." This classic screen type is called "James Franco doing weird James Franco things."

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