Boyfriends T.R. Knight and Mark Cornelsen hug actress Mia Barron at the opening performance of House of Blue Leaves in Los Angeles

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.

• Out rocker Bob Mould (Husker Du, Sugar) is writing an autobiography. Considering he lived through the 80s pioneering an otherwise hetero American music movement while a closeted gay man and drug user and came through the other side a blogger who shares casserole recipes on his website, it will no doubt be a fascinating read.

• RealityBlurred.com has an exclusive interview with Survivor: Gabon's Charlie Herschel who apparently wants to be a large, powerful, black woman. That sounds nice, but I'd just take the million dollars and call it a day. 

• Howard Stern strikes again during a CNN broadcast about the U.S.'s latest financial catastrophe.  No doubt John McCain and Sarah Palin will cite this as a reason to ban gay marriage.

• GLAAD's Damon Romine got his hands on George Takei and Brad Altman's wedding vows. The sickness and health part I get, but what's this businee about warp coil drives?
  

• Apparently a lot of American LGBT groups aren't getting the joke when it comes to Little Britain USA: They're calling a boycott due to the show's "homophobic" humor. Or is it all a joke itself?

• Gospel singer Ray Boltz has come out of the closet. Hallelujah!

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

Soon-to-be-wed Brad Altman and George Takei, under the watchful eye of Barbra Streisand

It's a big week for wacky gay uncle George Takei (and seriously, I say that with utmost affection). First, he appeared on The Howard Stern Show yesterday (as he often does) and discussed his pre-nup with fiance Brad Altman and took a "gay pop quiz" on various gay terms and slang and he did pretty well (better than I would have done, actually!).

Here's a choice tidbit from the show's official recap:

Howard played a clip from yesterday's Wrap-Up Show of George revealing that he has two paintings of his fiancé in the nude, one of a young Brad and the other more recent. Howard asked George why he didn't just have a photographer take a picture, so George explained that he was friends with the artists. Howard also wondered if George ever pleasured himself to the pictures, but George said no: “I can't see them from the shower.”  

Then last night George was roasted at the Friars Club, which must have been a blast. If you remember, George was one of the highlights of the William Shatner roast, where he sat quietly on the receiving end of countless gay jokes before laying into the Shat and the rest of the roasters mercilessly. (If you want to watch a clip, check out this one, which has some language that may be a bit spicy for work environs.)

Today Takei is back on Stern, where Howard and the gang are throwing him a bachelor party, and of course that means all sorts of perverted what-not. Still, pervy or no, gotta love Howard for treating his gay guests just like he does his straight ones, and bless Takei's heart and sense of humor.

More pics from George's roast after the jump!

Out star Neil Patrick Harris is on a good old-fashioned press blitz this week leading up to Friday's opening of Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. He reprises the role of ... himself (or rather, a Bizarro World version of himself), and so far this week he's made appearances on E!, Regis & Kelly, MAD TV, and The Howard Stern Show. The Stern interview was particularly illuminating, with Neil opening up about his past, and about being an openly gay man in Hollywood.

Note: Thanks to sources like GAYTVblog and MarksFriggin for their painstaking transcription and recapping of the Stern appearance. Be sure to check them out for more juicy details from the interview.

On coming out to his parents:

"I think their main concern was one of safety. Because their big worry was that it meant that I was going to be on crystal meth and get AIDS and have crazy sex with all sorts of random people."

He started to realize he was gay when he was 13, but that didn't stop him from having sex with between 12 and 15 girls (!) before he came out. Howard pressed him about famous women he's slept with, but the only one he would name was Brady Bunch Movie star (and wife of Ben Stiller), Christine Taylor:

"She's like the coolest, nicest chick ever. She's an absolute catch, and I thought if I'm not going to feel the super sparks with her, than it probably means that I'm gay."

After the break, you can read more of Neil's beyond-revealing interview with Howard, including his opinion of Perez Hilton, his relationship with partner David Burtka, and some NSFW tidbits. As an added treat, we've also posted Neil's deliberately stiff performance on MAD TV.

Hank Azaria may have his problems with George Takei, but Gay.com's Jenny Stewart points out that Howard Stern hasn't shied away from the actor after coming out.

Stewart explores Takei's history with Stern's radio show, a history that started with an interview Takei did in the early '90s. During the interview, Takei uttered an "Oh, my." in his deep and unique voice. Takei's distinct intonation tickled Stern and his producers and those two words from the interview became a sound drop that would be used to punctuate any shocking comments made on the show.

When Takei came out in 2005, Stern's show was part of his media tour. While most post-coming out interviews with Takei was safe and polite, Stern asked the same kind of rude and intrusive questions he's known for asking heterosexual celebrities. Takei discussed his life with an openness and an ability take Stern's ribbing. The interview was a frank discussion of gay sexuality on a show with an audience that doesn't seek to learn about gay experiences... and Stern's audience reacted so positively to the interview that Takei was invited to be a part of Stern's new satellite radio show when it debuted in 2006.

Since then, Takei has been treated like any other participant on the raunchy talk show. One important period came after a segment on the show caused a fight between Takei and his partner, Brad. Stern and crew discussed George and Brad's fight the same as any other couple, putting out a message that George and Brad's relationship was no less valid because they're gay.

The power of Takei's presence on Stern's show is that he's reaching an audience that isn't exposed to gay people in most of their media choices. If Stern weren't as powerful a talent, he'd probably be fighting with a marketing executive insisting that Stern's audience would desert the show if the continued to hear about a gay man's experiences. Instead, Stern is showing his audience that a gay man can be a part of the gang.

I remember watching Stern when E! first attempted to put Stern's radio show on TV and his relationship with Takei doesn't surprise me. Back in the mid 90's Stern had no problem discussing gay life with a gay intern. Back then, gay media wasn't so easy to find and I learned a lot about gay culture from watching Stern's show -- while I was still getting comfortable accepting who I was, Stern's show was one place where I felt safe learning about being gay while sitting in the lounge of a college dormitory.

Legendary radio shock jock Howard Stern has problematic stands on every social topic from race to misogyny to homophobia. Many argue Stern turns gays into sex objects; however, when looking a little deeper Stern is one of the most supportive major media figures of the gay community.

In an AfterElton.com interview with the gays boys of Sirus radio, Larry Flick mentioned how die-hard Stern listeners flip the channel to OutQ, partly due to Stern’s support: “The prototypical Howard Stern listener is not one you envision to be a Sirius OutQ listener, but they're checking us out. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have Howard's endorsement. He's been extremely generous in his praise on and off the air.”

I look at Howard Stern as the older, dirty uncle in your family. Loud-mouthed, obtrusive, offensive ... but at the end of the night he will be the one person who will support you if you come out of the closet during Thanksgiving dinner.

This week Howard Stern regular Joey Boots came out of the closet as a gay man live on the air. Of course, a Howard Stern revelation wouldn’t be complete without the trash factor. According to HowardStern.com, “Boots then confessed that he was gay, saying he's been going out to gay clubs ‘on the sly’ to ... and otherwise ‘hook up'.” Boots went onto describe the many men he is attracted to — none of which were Howard. Comedian and producer of the Howard Stern radio show, Bob Levy, argued that Boots was only gay because he slept with Lisa Lampanelli — that’s a story I’m afraid to hear!

Howard Stern said it was no big deal that Joey Boots is a gay man and “told Boots that coming out was a heroic thing for him to do and congratulated him for doing so.” Considering that Howard's core audience isn't generally considered to be the most sensitive or gay-leaning bunch, hearing Howard voice such unqualified support for his friend is undeniably a positive. Before Joey Boots left he agreed to do a Gay Dial-A-Date segment, a dating game for gay men. Also, on a sentimental note, Boots said when he looks at attractive men he “feels a loneliness in his chest.” Poor Boots.

I am sure Howard Stern will be documenting Boots's new out-of-the-closet life in vivid detail! We will keep you posted.