Here's some great news for theater lovers, supporters of LGBT visibility, and anyone with a weakness for a hot Brazilian gay hunk with a body carved from marble and a voice that could melt glass:

Gorgeous and talented Paulo Szot, who last week won the Best Actor in a Musical Tony for his performance in South Pacific, is an out gay man.

There had been some speculation about Szot (who was rumored to be openly gay in his native Brazil, where he is a celebrated opera singer), but not much was known about him in the States before he took the stage in Pacific. And of course the sight of him and sound of his pipes set tongues wagging and Internet speculation afire the day after the Awards. We contacted his publicist and were told that yes, he is gay, and we're welcome to say as much.

Paulo and fellow honoree Patti Lupone

It is of course wonderful to have yet another openly gay actor winning the Best Actor trophy (last year, newly-out David Hyde Pierce took the prize in an upset win over bisexual actor Raul Esparza), a trend that we hope to see continue ... especially in stereotype-breaking, traditionally masculine roles like the one Szot plays in South Pacific. And folks hoping to snag Szot for themselves, you might be out of luck, as the handsome man who accompanied him is rumored to be the "Eduardo" that he thanked in his acceptance speech, and he may be spoken for.

More pics of this fine fella after the jump!

Mark Cornelsen and T.R. Knight look smart at Get Smart

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual 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.

• Access Hollywood caught up with T.R. Knight last night (at the Get Smart premiere with boyfriend Mark Cornelsen), and got his thoughts on the historic day in California marriage history.

• Here's a clip of out hottiepants Cheyenne Jackson being interviewed at the Tonys red carpet!

• Groomer Rumor has it that Queer Eye vet Jai Rodriguez will be playing Desi Arnaz in a West Hollywood production of the musical Dance With Me (which tells the love story of Desi and Lucille Ball) in July.

• One of our greatest (and funniest) straight allies, Stephen Colbert, was awarded another Peabody Award last night. Keep 'em comin'! Other recipients included 30 Rock, Dexter, Mad Men, and Project Runway.

• Hey, remember that unsavory TiVo/Focus on the Family collaboration that we wrote about last week? Looks like FoF has pulled the TiVo logo from their ads. Nice!

• Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Urie (as gay assistant Marc St. James on Ugly Betty) are amongst the nominees for this year's Teen Choice Awards. For the full list go on over here ... I'm sorry, I love Jake Gyllenhaal as much as the next guy, but is there anyone who qualifies as a "teen" who has even heard of Rendition?

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

Candis Cayne and Cyndi Lauper at the NewNowNext Awards (Photo: Getty)

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual 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.

• Cyndi Lauper's latest video, for her dance track "Into the Nightlife", was directed by Lauper herself ... at gay dance club Splash in New York City. Seriously. You can check it out over here. (And be on the lookout for a cameo by Colton Ford!)

• We reported back in September about the in-the-works Brokeback Mountain opera, and today we've gotten word that it will premiere in 2013 as a part of the New York City Opera's season. Charles Wuorinen is composing the opera.

• Worst. Stocking. Stuffer. Ever.: Heath Ledger "Joker" action figures are fetching a pretty penny on eBay, and rumors say that Mattel is scrambling to redesign the figure (to be less Ledger-y, one would assume) before The Dark Knight comes out.

Olivia Newton John shows her Pride in Los Angeles

(Photo: Getty Images)

• Olivia Newton John, Kimberley Locke, and Leeza Gibbons (yes, I just said "Leeza Gibbons") were among the entertainers at yesterday's Gay Pride festivities in Los Angeles.

• The L.A. Times has a preview of what's in store for this Sunday's Tony Awards, including presenters and performances, including the cast of Xanadu's chosen number, "Don't Walk Away". (And no, they're not going to turn into cartoon birds during the number. Though that would be awesome.)

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

What will Christian Siriano (seen here at the Sex and the City premiere) whip up for Whoopi?

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual 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.

• Project Runway's Christian Siriano will be designing Whoopi Goldberg's outfit for her Tonys hosting gig. Even I might tune in to see Miss Celie in full-on "Bitches of Sherwood Forest" gear.

• Michael Urie hints that a Broadway Ugly Betty musical may be more of a possibility than we had hoped for. Who doesn't want to see Hilda turn it out?

• Oh to live in London: the London Literature Festival will not only feature the UK premiere of the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So, but gay Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson (whose life is profiled in the film) will do a Q&A after, hosted by Sir Ian McKellen.

• Cyndi Lauper (whose new dance CD, Bring Ya to the Brink, hit stores yesterday) has been named a grand marshall of the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, alongside Charo and Harvey Milk's nephew, Stuart (they join a few other locals previously named). This of course coming hot on the heels of other Cyndi/Gay Pride-related news...

• Denise Van Outen revealed that a nude John Barrowman once tried to drag her into Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's pool. Um, yeah ... me, too.

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

Tony winners David Hyde Pierce are and Sara Ramirez are all smiles at this morning's announcement

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual 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 other day we mentioned that Neil Patrick Harris and Rosie O'Donnell would be among the celebrity guests on the upcoming primetime Million Dollar Password. Here's a rather hilarious interview with NPH behind-the-scenes, compete with another excellent Regis impression.

• Hiding in Hip Hop author Terrance Dean will be reading from the tell-most book this week in NYC, and taking Q&A. Check out AfterElton.com contributor Clay Cane's site for details.

• Hey Freak Show fans: Check out this kinda hilarious video of author James St. James reading from his brilliant young adult novel along with several other Lambda Literary Award nominees at A Different Light bookstore, hosted by Christopher Rice.

• In case you missed it, Neil Patrick Harris wound up in bed with Britney last night ... so that we don't have to. Thanks for taking one for the team, NPH!

• Apparently actor Mike Epps is famous enough to be stalked and harassed into a verbal and physical altercation by the bottom-feeders at TMZ. Epps regrettably stoops the their level by calling one of the paps "a fag, homosexual". 

• RADAR takes Joel Derfner, the author of Swish, to the Hello Kitty store and out for ice cream. Given that the rest of the book's title is "My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever", I'm guessing "Swish" isn't a basketball reference?

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

This morning out actor David Hyde Pierce (who won a Tony last year for Curtains) and Grey's Anatomy's Sara Ramirez (who won a Tony herself alongside Pierce in Spamalot a few years ago) announced the Tony nominations for 2008.

Best Musical: Xanadu, aka Gayness on Skates, was nominated (also for Best Book), as well as gay-pedigreed Cry-Baby (Cry-Baby also snagged a nom for Best Score and Best Book).

Best Actor in a Play: Out actor Ben Daniels (Beautiful Thing) was nominated for his brilliant (and revealing!) performance in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

Best Actress in a Musical: Xanadu's Kerry Butler was nominated, as was Faith Prince for the gay-themed A Catered Affair.

Featured Actor in a Play: Out actor Raul Esparza (Pushing Daisies) was nominated for The Homecoming. And gay-fave actor Bobby Cannevale (Will & Grace) was nominated for Mauritius.

Featured Actor in a Musical: Out actor Robin De Jesus (Camp) was nominated for In the Heights.

Best Choreography: Xanadu and Cry-Baby were both nominated.

And gay composer Stephen Sondheim will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award (deservedly!). 

Of course, the big disappointment is that multiple-threat hunk Cheyenne Jackson wasn't nominated for Best Actor for his short-short-filling turn in Xanadu. Sigh. Well, we know we still haven't seen the best of him (at least, I know I haven't!). Congrats to all the nominees! The Tony Awards will be handed out on June 15th, and you can check out the full list on noms after the break!

Frequent Conan O'Brien contributor Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (AKA Robert Smigel) made an appearance outside the Tony Awards two Sunday nights ago. As Triumph's name pretty much indicates, his bit is to insult everyone who crosses his path. Since this was the Tonys, naturally the gay jokes flew fast and furious, and I'm glad they did, as it's nice to be included even when it's all about the insults. Some of the jokes were flat out funny. Some not so much. The Gaydar gun was pretty hilarious, especially the warning label to not use at the Tonys.

It seemed a little off-putting that the jokes about Elton John and Harvey Fierstein all had to do with sex while Judd Hirsch, Jeff Daniels, and Martha Plimpton got tweaked for being washed up and not terribly famous. I haven't seen much of Triumph's work before, but Brian assures me he's an equal opportunity offender and that normally we would have heard as much about Martha's vagina as we did about John's butt cheeks. Maybe Triumph was fixated on the gay stuff because it was the Tonys and there ain't do denying just how gay that is.

• If you haven't seen our article on Broadway Bares, check it out -- as well as the clip below of out actor Christopher Sieber (who once played the Olsen twins' father!) and his partner Kevin Burrows getting down and dirty for a good cause.
• Dreamgirls' "Family" co-opted for shameless 1986 sitcom plug. Awesome. (t/y WOW Report)
• Donna Summer performing at Orlando Gay Days 2007
  
• In case you missed it, the gayest Tonys opening ever.

Yes, the Gay Super Bowl (aka the Tony Awards) kicked off last night with what was perhaps the gayest thing I've ever seen on broadcast television: the leotarded, leg-warmered cast of A Chorus Line hoofing it in the middle of the street in front of Radio City. Somewhere in Smoot, Wyoming, a channel-surfing gay 14-year-old boy sees his future ... and it includes high kicks.

But the event was already a Gaysapalooza even before the first character shoe hit Sixth Avenue (and long before recently out actor David Hyde Pierce walked away with the Best Actor in a Musical trophy) -- check out these arrival pics of some of the gay honorees and presenters (as well as a few gay-faves, as well). Oodles more after the jump.

Neil Patrick Harris (Assassins)

Big winner David Hyde Pierce (Curtains!)