While nothing can bring gay teen Lawrence “Larry” King back to life, his murder at the hands of a fellow junior high student brought to light the mostly ignored subject of the violent bullying often endured by kids who don’t fit in at school. Given that gender expression and sexual orientation were key elements that made Larry different from his peers, it makes perfect sense for The Advocate to address the story at length, which it does in its April 8 cover story by Neal Broverman, "Who’s to Blame?”

What at first seems like a broad rhetorical question on the cover unfortunately takes a literal turn as the writer searches high and low for scapegoats other than Larry's murderer, including the group home where Larry lived, LGBT advocates, “society,” and even Larry himself.

Casa Pacifica, the group home for abused, neglected, and emotionally troubled children where Larry lived, is blamed for somehow being a safe haven where he was “encouraged to dress as he pleased and live as the person he wanted to be.”

Broverman states that ”(i)t may be beyond the capacity of kids to reconcile a tolerant atmosphere like Casa Pacifica with the xenophobic, conformist nature of school.”

LGBT advocates, particularly the National Center for Lesbian Rights, are also blamed for their “Know Your Rights Guide” and “Queer and Trans Youth in California Foster Care Have Rights!” pamphlet, provided to all LGBT children at the Larry’s foster care facility. The author highlights many of these rights, like safe bathrooms and “the right for kids to wear clothes and hairstyles that fit their gender identity.”

These rights, and even “an illustration of a teenager in overalls and high heels” (pictured above) in one of the guides, are presented as dangerous freedoms taken “to heart in the last weeks of (Larry’s) life.”

Does anyone believe that an illustration and exposure to legal rights are responsible for Larry’s death?

NewNowNext grabbed Kate and Fred of The B-52s for a quick chat. Check it out!

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.

• A 1948 W.H. Auden poem about gay oral sex was deemed "too dirty" to mention in a Times book review of erotic poetry. Why? Because it's downright hot filthy!

• Probably the funniest thing I've read all week: Stuff White People Like #88: Having Gay Friends

• TIME magazine is running a readers poll of their best covers, and Ellen DeGeneres' "Yep, I'm Gay" cover is #1, with almost five times the votes of the next entry, 9/11. Take note, publishers: Gay people good, terrorism bad.

• Above, another preview clip from tomorrow's Make Me a Supermodel featuring special guest mentor ... Christian Siriano! He's there to help make their catwalks ... wait for it ... fierce.

• The Stranger's Dan Savage uses this week's column as an opportunity to answer some young readers' questions about coming out, and doesn't bother sugar-coating anything: "In two short years ... you'll be able to come out to your mom and dad - and, even better, you'll be able to tell them to suck it."

• The kids at Cracked list their 6 favorite offensive Hollywood stereotypes, and whaddayaknow, the "Gay/Effeminate Serial Killer is on the list. Glad we're not the only ones complaining about these things.

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

The critically praised 2004 film Brother to Brother re-introduced modern audiences to Richard Bruce Nugent, an openly gay writer popular during the Harlem Renaissance. In the film, an art student meets Nugent and hears stories about what it was like to be a gay voice in one of the 1920's important cultural movements.

Nugent was the first African-American to publish a story about gay characters ("Smoke, Lilies and Jade") and for a long period he was a rare example of a gay African-American man who didn't hesitate to let his art reflect his homosexuality. But his novel, Gentleman Jigger, has gone unprinted until now.

Gentleman Jigger focuses on two brothers: Aeon, who can "pass" as white, and Stuartt, who is openly gay, like Nugent. Stuartt becomes involved with a young hoodlum, forcing him to deal with the gangster's world of molls, jazz and gang bosses. According to Keith Boykin, the novel was never published partially due to the frank discussion of homosexuality, which Nugent refused to take out when asked by publishers.

If you'd like to learn more about Nugent, check out this website which has plenty of samples of his work and a look at his life. You can sample his poetry, his art (including a totally NSFW gallery of drawings) or read a chronology of his life.

Comic writer Mark Millar isn't thrilled to learn that his story was the breaking point that inspired Perry Moore to tell a positive story of a gay superhero. A 2005 story by Millar was brought up in Sunday's New York Times profile of Moore:

But things work out relatively well for him, which makes sense given Mr. Moore’s distaste for how some gay comic-book characters have been treated. His hackles still rise at the death of Northstar, a mutant hero who made headlines in 1992 when he uttered the words “I am gay” in the pages of a Marvel comic.

In 2005 Northstar was killed by a brainwashed Wolverine, which enraged Mr. Moore. He thought the murder of Marvel’s biggest gay hero by one of its most popular characters (in comics, films and merchandising) sent the wrong message.

“I thought I was going to have to stop buying comics,” he said, but instead, “I waged my own little jihad.” He visited a comic store armed with Post-it notes, which he affixed to copies of the “Wolverine” series (first on the covers, then, more slyly, on interior pages). They asked questions like “Can there be a gay superhero?” “Homophobic?” and “Ask yourself: equal rights?”

Death is rarely final in comics, so it’s no surprise that Northstar came back to life. “They couldn’t bother to mention he was gay,” Mr. Moore said of Northstar’s most recent appearance in “X-Men.”

Taking a cue from Gail Simone, a comic-book writer who first gained notice as a fan with her Web site, “Women in Refrigerators”, detailing the mistreatment of female heroes, Mr. Moore created his own tally. “Who Cares About the Death of a Gay Superhero?,” which he has delivered as a speech, includes more than 60 gay and lesbian comic book characters who have been ignored, maimed or murdered.

“Yes, bad things do happen to all people,” he wrote in it. “But are there positive representations of gay characters to counterbalance these negative ones?”

Not nearly enough, Mr. Moore said, and that’s one reason he wrote “Hero,” for which he already has ideas for future installments.

Millar wasn't thrilled to see a story he wrote mentioned as a low point in superhero comics' treatment of gay characters, and he reacted on his website:

Oh, tell him to f**k off.

He didn't die because he was gay. He died because he'd been brainwashed by The Hand.

• Tori Spelling was ordained by mail to officiate her first wedding -- and it was between two men! I really love this chick. Er ... Reverend chick.
• John Barrowman talks in depth about gay rights, straight media, and his character: "Anything with a postcode Jack will shag!" Note to self: get ... postcode ...
• John over at NewNowNext posted a fascinating interview with soul singer Donnie, who recently performed at Black L.A. Pride and has plenty to say about the idea of a "gay community", gays in the Church, and more.
• Oprah's design guru Nate Berkus (who tragically lost his lover in the Eastern Asian tsunami and was invited by Oprah to speak about it in 2005 on the show) is on the cover of Out.
  
• Can you I.D. the actor (who played gay in a gay film) in this car commercial?

Fans of Tim Fish's gay romance comic Cavalcade of Boys thought they saw the last of those characters when the series came to a conclusion. However, the series is making a return this week with the debut of a weekly comic strip that will follow characters from the original series (including Tighe, who was also the focus of Cavalcade prequel Strugglers). Boston's LGBT paper Bay Windows will begin publishing the strip beginning this Thursday, July 5.

If you haven't sampled Fish's work in the past, this strip is a good opportunity to get a taste for his style of storytelling and eye-catching art. You won't need to be familiar with the earlier Cavalcade of Boys series to enjoy the new edition, as the Cavalcade strip will feature a stand-alone story that won't require knowledge of the previous series.

We previously reviewed and loved Fish's Young Bottoms in Love. Personally, Cavalcade of Boys was one of my favorite comics, a series that had endearing characters and compelling storylines to go with Fish's energetic, emotive art. Cavalcade is a well-suited to become a weekly serial, and I can't wait to get to see the latest version.

• Becki Newton (Amanda from Ugly Betty) and her hubby Chris Diamantopoulos (who plays Debra Messing's gay pal in The Starter Wife) at the premiere of Wife. So. Cute. I. Could. Pop.
• BREAKING! Kevin Spacey totally may not not be not gay, and is SO almost not ready to kind of hint at possibly not talking about it! Whatever...
• This is the worst news we've heard all week: awful and misguided failed pilot Gay Robot may get a second chance as an animated show. DOES NOT COMPUTE
• Speaking of gay robots ... Chuck Panozzo, the bassist from rock band Styx (whom I saw this past summer, with my parents, in Iowa), has written a book about being a closeted rock star (Styx did the glorious "Mister Roboto," remember, hence the hackneyed segue).
  
• Summer reading lists: now with more gay (it's about time!)
• Swayze, Gilbert, whatever -- WHO'S PLAYING NELLIE?!?!
• Looks like characters losing their sexuality isn't the only continuity problem that Heroes is having these days (did anyone else watch the last episode? Worst. Finale. Ever.)
• Finally, don't forget the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! We've got Rosie's sex life, pics from Cannes, and Saved the Musical. BTW, it's Memorial Day Weekend in the US so we won't be back until Tuesday!

An interesting article ran recently on the British financial news site thisismoney addressing the topic of homosexuality in big business. The piece was of course spurred by the recent resignation of BP chief Lord John Browne, who stepped down from his post after being publicly outed in order to "avoid scandal" -- although if you're quitting your job because newspapers are writing about you, then I think that particular horse is already out of the barn.

The article (which is actually reprinted from its sister paper, The Evening Standard) is interesting in that it focuses not on the "scandal" around Browne's voluntary self-sack, but on the fact that homophobia in big business (what in the UK is referred to as "The City") is pretty much ruining people's lives, Browne included.

Author Keith Dovkants begins by musing on why a man would quit his job merely because people were speculating about his sexuality, listing a dozen high-profile and openly gay Brits -- but then notes that there are only two out gay people in senior positions at major institutions.

Even by the law of averages, that is clearly absurd. Ashley Steel, an openly lesbian member of accountants KPMG's management board, said she was 'gobsmacked' by the dearth of people from the Square Mile on the so-called Pink List. 'Where were the legal firms in that list?' she asked. 'Where were the other accounting firms in that list? And where were all the banks and insurance companies?'

Notorious writer, critic, editor, and man-about-town Leo Lerman knew just about everyone and everything that there was to know about New York society in the latter part of the 20th century. And 13 years after his death, the private diaries of this openly gay onetime editor at Vogue, Vanity Fair, and more are being published as The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman.

Fans of old Hollywood take note: Lerman had something to say about just about everyone. In his diaries Lerman dishes on Dietrich, Garbo, Capote, Cary Grant, Steve McQueen (whom Lerman says was bisexual), Ike and Tina Turner, and more. Any book that features gossip about Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (who is rumored to have committed suicide after fatally injuring a sailor during sex) is immediately set apart from your usual newsstand tabloid.

The book hits stands tomorrow, and those hungry for Tinseltown gossip from a time when you had to be more than a Hilton to be the center of attention will no doubt be scrambling for a copy. For more info, check out the publisher's website.

A reader tipped us off to an interesting development in the journey of gay author David Gerrold's semi-autobiographical book The Martian Child to movie screens (the film, which stars John Cusack as Gerrold, opens in June).

It seems that the story of a gay single father coming to understand his adopted son (who insists that he is an alien) is now about a straight man (Cusack) who is so shattered after the death of his girlfriend that he adopts a kid that spends most of his time in a cardboard box.

What the heck happened here?

(READ ON for more on this interesting page-to-screen transformation)