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.

• Happy birthday to gay singer/songwriter Darren Hayes! The former Savage Gardener turns 36.

• The new Broadway show Glory Days, about four high school friends who reunite after their first year of college (and one comes out as gay), closed after one performance, the first time since 1983 that a new show has only lasted one night. If you're in the mood for some bittersweet, check out the opening night coverage.

• In Milk-related news ... May 22nd would have been the gay civic leader's 78th birthday, and the city of San Francisco will be unveiling a statue in his honor at City Hall to commemorate the day.

• Over yonder, you can see a sneak peek of Britney's encore "performance" on How I Met Your Mother. Think Neil Patrick Harris gets hazard pay? Oh, I keed, I keed ...

• Finally, an adorable story about Matthew Pope, the openly gay cheerleader recently named Homecoming King of his high school in Kansas, and how much his fellow students love and support him.

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

Cheyenne Jackson (R) and designer/Ugly Betty star Kenneth Cole

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.

• In his attempts to get a crowd of extras riled up on the Milk shoot, Sean Penn referred to Sean Hannity as Rupert Murdoch's "butt boy". Er ... probably not the best choice of words, Sean.

• Broadway's Cheyenne Jackson will host the Live Out Loud Young Trailblazers Gala, a benefit for the organization, which aims to provide mentorship and support to LGBT youth. Seriously, Cheyenne, you can stop trying so hard to make me fall in love with you. It's getting a little embarrassing.

• Up north, Canadian Television (CTV) allegedly yanked an "ex-gay" ministry ad after receiving complaints that it was discriminatory. (Warning: links to a religious site, if you're not into that kind of thing.) If so, good for them.

• The BAFTA television award nominees have been announced, with three gay men (Stephen Fry, Simon Amstell, and Alan Carr) up for the Best Entertainment Performer prize. Additionally, out actor Sir Antony Sher is up for Best Actor for his role in Primo.

• Curtains, the show for which David Hyde Pierce won a Tony (and thanked his partner when receiving it), will close on June 29th after 537 total performances.

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

Sean Penn reportedly took matters into his own hands (and lips) when shooting a disco birthday party scene for Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic.

Performer Mark Martinez (aka Flava), who plays disco legend Sylvester in the scene, spoke to E! about his time on the shoot, including an impromptu kiss between him and the star:

“All of a sudden, Sean’s pointing at me, and he’s talking to the assistant director,” Martinez says. “The AD comes up to me and says, ‘Just to let you know, you are now going to break up Sean and [costar] James Franco’s conversation. You’re going to grab Sean, and Sean’s going to be really excited, and he’s going to kiss you.’”

And that he did. “I’m performing, and he comes onto the dance floor,” Martinez explains. “He grabs me, and he just slaps the biggest kiss on me...It felt like the kiss was forever. I’m like, Is he going to stop? I had to close my eyes. I couldn’t believe it.”

Martinez added that he tried to convince an obviously amused van Sant to do another take, but the director said that they got the shot.

Now our real question is, will Penn be kissing his co-star in the film? Like a real couple? 

Yesterday the news hit the Webs that Gus Van Sant, who pulled a magnificent leapfrog move over director Bryan Singer in getting his Harvey Milk biopic into production first, had extended an invite for the X-Men wonderkind to make a cameo appearance in his Sean-Penn-led film, Milk.

Van Sant made it clear that scheduling such things is tough but that Singer had indicated that he was interested. So this leaves us with a delicious and rare inverse Fantasy Casting situation: What would you like to see Bryan SInger play?

It might be interesting to see Singer play assassin Dan White's lawyer, Douglas Schmidt, in faux newsreel footage or the like over the end credits. Singer could also play a customer at Milk and partner Scott Smith's Castro camera shop. Or a pot legalization demonstrator, disco flag-dancer, blue-skinned mutant, or city councilman.

Or how about a Twinkie?

Any suggestions? 

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.

• Either the pic at top is of Kylie Minogue's performance at the Brit Awards, or the ghost of Marilyn Monroe is mounting a stage production of Earth Girls Are Easy.

• The Bay Area Reporter has a great interview with Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter of the in-production Harvey Milk biopic being helmed by Gus van Sant. (via Towleroad)

• Poor Jimmy Kimmel ... his girlfriend is "F*cking Matt Damon", and he has to settle for Ben Affleck? That's like aiming for Hall and getting Oats... (chances are the clip will air on Kimmel's post-Oscar show this Sunday)

• ABC announced the return schedules for most of our favorite shows (considering that they air almost everything that's actually watchable these days) including Betty, Daisies, Housewives. Grey's, and Brothers & Sisters. All but Daisies return by late April with new eps.

• The Rocky Horror Show recently revived itself in Sydney, and Rocky creator Richard O'Brien was there to give it his blessing.

• Speaking of Australian monsters, radio host Sonia Kruger has come under fire for calling Alan Jones, a competitor whose sexuality is a topic of much speculation, a "queen". Considering that Kruger played Tina Sparkle in Strictly Ballroom, it's safe to say that her next step will be to challenge Jones to a paso doble-off.

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

Our pals at Good As You tipped us off to a YouTube video that a fan had made while "eavesdropping" on the Castro location of Milk, Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk film starring Sean Penn.

Before the production team politely asks the two chatty fellas with the camera to stop filming, the amateur pap and his colleague nab video and audio of Penn in character (he sounds eerily like the slain politician) and provide animated running commentary that puts the robots at Entertainment Tonight to shame.

My favorite parts are when, upon seeing Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones (who is right beside him on set, interestingly enough), one of the fellas comments, "Sassy, right? Sassy! What's his name? Amelia what?", and of course the tangent about how Sean Penn's proven photographer-assaulting past may have placed them directly in harm's way. (Note the perfectly-executed tandem Madonna reference, which should not be attempted by amateurs.)

The guys escape unharmed and will hopefully be back with more video ... and more Church Lady references!

More pics have popped up on the Net of the in-progress filming of Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic (gotta love crowd scenes with lots of shutterbug opps), including first pics of James Franco (who plays Scott Smith, lover to Sean Penn's Milk) and Emile Hirsch (who plays activist Cleve Jones). Lots more pics over on this flikr site, and likely oodles more to come.

Penn and Franco

Emile Hirsch 

Sean Penn as Harvey Milk 

Slashfilm has posted what a resourceful shutterbug says is an image of Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in the upcoming Gus van Sant biopic of the San Francisco gay rights figure. The above image is being used on the campaign posters used in the film.

And here's Penn on set:

More pics of the retrofitted Castro and campaign materials over at the source. Any thoughts?

Brazilian model and frequent taxicab occupant Pedro Andrade

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.

• Did you know that the folks over at Project Rungay are doing comic strips based on the current season? FEEEEEAZZ!

• I'd forgotten about this, but thankfully Michael Musto brought back my hazy late-night memory in full: former Lance Bass companion, underwear model Pedro Andrade, has a gig hosting an NYC "about town" segment that's being played in taxicabs here in the city. (Note: repeatedly screaming at the image on the screen to "take it off, already!" has no effect.)

• Towleroad has some photos from the retrofying of the Castro currently underway for Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic.

• While we're on the topic, Sean Penn and James Franco (who play Harvey Milk and his lover Scott Smith, respectively) reportedly wanted to live together in preparation for their roles, but schedules did not permit. So much for authenticity! Next thing you know Tom Cruise won't REALLY save the world to prepare for his next Mission: Impossible movie.

• The UK is warming up for Gay History Month, which features regional events ranging from an Oscar Wilde exhibit (with contributions from Jeffrey's Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen) to a "gay ghost hunt."

Last week we noted that the cast of Milk (which at that point included Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Victor Garber, Stephen Spinella, and Denis O'Hare) couldn't get any better. Well, it's a new week! Focus Features has announced that Diego Luna (Y tu mama tambien, The Terminal) has joined the cast of Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, playing Jack Lira, a troubled young lover of Milk.

It's also being reported that Lucas Grabeel, best known from his work dancing alongside Zac Efron in High School Musical, has been cast as Danny Nicoletta, another of Milk's supporters who also worked in Milk's San Francisco camera shop. Meanwhile, Big Love's Douglas Smith has been cast as Milk supporter Paul Hogarth.