Visionary gay designer Alexander McQueen and Miss Jackson at the opening of his new L.A. store

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.

• Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford is cool with the gay rumors, saying that it means he's "made it" in Hollywood. (Yes, but made it with whom?) In related news, congrats! We've all made it in Hollywood!

• Here's the strangest press release for a faux memoir of a self-obsessed gay hitman who tangles with art thieves, alien invasions and "would-be vampires" that I've seen all week. (the novel is called Renaissance Killer)

• Hey, As the World Turns fans: Luke actually popped up out of the blue in one scene at the end of today's episode to tell Holden what happened between him and Noah on Monday. What, Holden doesn't have TiVo? Sheesh...

• The in-production prison romance I Love You Phillip Morris is getting some serious promotion already at the in-progress Cannes Film Festival. (Cinematical via Towleroad)

• A recent advertising study focusing on brand loyalty of gay consumers tells us what we already know: we prefer companies that don't ignore us or treat us like dirt. A spokesman for the firm that conducted the study noted that "gays and lesbians are fiercely loyal customers to brands they perceive as reaching out to them". Well, at least he said "fierce".

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

You didn't think we'd go into Mother's Day weekend without paying tribute to those wacky ladies (real and otherwise) that gave birth to our fabulousness, did you?  If you can't surprise your Mom with Sunday brunch or a T-shirt with your face on it, be sure to call her/them and express your love and gratitude for raising such a fierce child. 

It is, after all, Mother's Day so just remember, kiddies ... without Mothers there'd be no frakkers; without Mamas there'd be no Mia's, and the most important lesson of all: those lovely ladies that brought you into this world can take you out just as easily (sorry, I had to), so celebrate them!

Sit back and relax as I honor some of my favorite real-life Moms, as well as those from television and movies that represent the good, the bad and the ugly of memorable mamas.

THE NEWBIE
Lily Van der Woodsen (Gossip Girl)

Gossip Girl's Lily Van der Woodsen is a complex character who wants to be a better woman, Mother and lover than her upper crust gal pals and family will allow and I currently heart her. Sure Lily will marry any Tom, Dick or Bart for their money and she'll go to great lengths to save face amongst the Upper East Side elite and yes, she had a mini-meltdown when evil Georgina outed her son Eric at the dinner table but she came around in the end! Kelly Rutherford has taken what could have been a one-note rich bitch and made her a woman to root for. PFLAG will never be the same.

THE SEMI-OLD PRO
Nora Walker (Brothers & Sisters)

Nora Walker meddles and occasionally messes with her children's lives but she's always best friend and supporter to her gay son Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) on ABC's Brothers & Sisters.  Sally Field is a powerful presence on screen and she can dominate the drama like no one else but she always let's her character live and breathe the world of her children (often to a fault) and she's really embraced Kevin's relationship and soon to be marriage to Scotty (played by Luke MacFarlane).  Nora could teach Lily a thing or two about patience and acceptance.

THE TRUE OLD PRO
Debbie Novotny (Queer as Folk - US)

Debbie (or PFLAG The Clown as my friend Armando likes to call her) could school all other Mother's on how to support your gay child and every fey friend that makes up his/her gay gang.  She's been crazy involved in her son Michael's (played by the adorable Hal Sparks) social and sex life so if you have questions on which gay clubs to haunt or which lube works best she's your go-to-gal.  Debbie does the gays proud and I salute her efforts and enthusiasm in grounding the sometimes outrageous Queer as Folk.

THE LEGEND
Anne Bancroft (Torch Song Trilogy's Ma Beckoff | Home For The Holiday's Adele Larson )

Anne Bancroft played two of the most memorable Gay Movie Moms from two of my favorite films with gay characters. In the classic Torch Song Trilogy she was the conflicted, confused, and sometimes pain in the ass Ma to Harvey Fierstein's Arnold Beckoff. In the end she realized that no matter how you raise them, sometimes kids really do "come that way."  In Jodie Foster's Home For The Holidays, she was the Mom most in need of a Silkwood shower and a neurotic nag to her gay son Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.) but she was never anything but amazing.  Rest In Peace Anne Bancroft (1931-2005).

THE ASS KICKER
Sandra Gangel (Beautiful Thing)

Sandra's the kind of woman that's not afraid to stand up to an abusive Father, knock out a whacked out Mama Cass lovin' neighbor, and encourage her gay son to make his own kind of music. Linda Henry's multi-layered performance in Beautiful Thing has always forced me to stand up and cheer.  She's funny, intense, and ruthless but encouraging and nurturing to not only her gay son Jamie but his teenaged lover Ste.  The final scene of the film is one of endless hope and utopia made even more amazing by Sandra's fearless efforts to accept her son.

I'm sure you're familiar with the TV junkie's version of Murphy's Law, where you finally get your friends to check out that show you love only to see the worst episode to air. Last night's Gossip Girl disappointed me that way. Where many of us became addicted to the CW's soap opera about absurdly precocious teens because of the inner demons that drive these characters, the last few episodes have traded pathos for cattiness and bon mots ... including in how the show revealed its gay character.

Find out who the gay Gossip guy is and the circumstances surrounding his multiple outings after the break...

Okay, maybe it's the gay hangover from the GLAAD Awards in Los Angeles this past weekend, but network TV had a bona-fide gay-out last night.

First, increasingly humpy gay actor Neil Patrick Harris (did I really just say that?) appeared shirtless on How I Met Your Mother, where his character Barney had just had a little hows-your-father with Robin (Cobie Smulders). The enterprising mangazer at superherofan screencapped the whole scene, but here's one more to tide you over.

But that's not all! As though having a character come out of the closet and casting Michelle Trachtenberg (a gay-fave from Mysterious Skin, Buffy, and Six Feet Under) in a recurring role weren't enough, last night Gossip Girl upped the gay quotient by casting Jake Silbermann - better known 'round these parts as Noah from As the World Turns - in a small role.

The same enterprising individual who brought us NPH's underarms also uploaded Jake's scene for us all to enjoy. Gotta love these Internets, eh?

Michael Lewis

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.

• Israeli actor/model/badunkadunk Michael Lewis (above) has signed on to appear opposite Alan Cumming in the upcoming fashion-industry Alice in Wonderland adaptation, Hatter. He plays the Dor Mauz, and as a bonus treat, he's also appearing as today's after-the-fold hunk.

• Not only is we-all-know-who going to be revealed as teh gay on Gossip Girl, but he'll be caught in a lip-lock with another equally cute (and equally inconsequential) character. Wanna know who?

• Funny, Ryan Seacrest isn't just sounding like Jay Leno with his lame gay panic humor, but he'e even looking like him these days.

• We linked to the preview video of Neil Patrick Harris's unfortunate beheading on Ellen yesterday, but here's the full clip for ya, above.

• Happy Birthday, Barbra. Still buttah after all these years...

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

UPDATE: Okay, we were sworn to secrecy and we stayed true to our word. But apparently no one told the actors on the show that they weren't supposed to spill the beans! If you want to find out, head on over here. If not, ignore, and join the kvetchfest below. (Note: the actor in question simply confirms that the scenes were filmed, so I guess we're still expecting there to be a coming-out in the next couple of weeks. We shall see...)

Looking at the comments for yesterday's Queerview, I wasn't the only one who tuned in to Gossip Girl last night, eager to see the resolution to a recent Michael Ausiello scoop promising that we'd see a Gossip guy revealed as gay. So, we tuned in and the gay character turned out to be...

Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated) Check local listings
Neil Patrick Harris is a guest on the show and even though the show website oddly only lists NPH as the star of How I Met Your Mother (instead of noting that he also has a movie opening this weekend), you know he'll make it worth tuning in to see.

Greek (ABC Family) 8:00 PM EDT
Tonight's episode focuses on a flashback to the Greek Ball where we learn how the various tensions between characters started... so who knows what that means for Calvin tonight. Still, it could be the perfect premise for Rusty and Calvin to mend their friendship after last week's prank war...

Gossip Girl (CW) 8:00 PM EDT
Tonight's post-strike return episode is promised to be the one where we learn which character among those teased earlier as gay will come out. While Gossip Girl was my favorite new show I never expected to like, I'm not holding out much hope that the series will make a surprising choice. Considering how the episode with Blair's gay dad was pretty dull, I'm mostly tuning in for the complicated friendship between Blair and Serena.

So, we know who the gay character is but have been sworn to secrecy. Any guesses? Vote in the poll after the break!

Michael Ausiello posted some juicy scoop over the weekend that when Gossip Girl returns to small screens in April, one of its fellas may very well be batting for the other team. He then posts pics of Dan (Penn Badgley), Nate (Chace Crawford) and Chuck (Ed Westwick) and offers the following clues:

• This person may or may not be pictured above.
• The revelation significantly impacts the lives of at least three people. 
• The aftershocks will be felt on both sides of the East River.
• Some viewers will be surprised by the twist, others not so much.
• In the Gossip Girl novels, Dan was known to be a bit of a switch hitter — which isn't so much a clue as it is a fact. A misleading fact? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

I honestly don't watch the show, so these aren't much help to me, although I do know that Dan's sexuality has been up for discussion since the show was picked up (although he doesn't come out until much later in the book series, from what I understand) and Blair's dad is of course gay and shacked up with a male model in Paris.

The commenters so far seem to think there's a clear candidate (I won't spoil who) ... any thoughts?

When I first checked out Gossip Girl, I wasn't expecting much. However, the surreality of seeing high schoolers sipping martinis in posh hotel bars and otherwise taking the 'acting beyond their age' thing to an extreme got me to stick around for a few episodes. Then the complexities of the friendship between Serena and Blair started to become clear and I was hooked.

Gossip Girl has turned out to be a solid character-focused soap and one of its more interesting characters is the focus of our gay storyline: mean girl Blair Waldorf, played by Leighton Meester. Unlike many a soap villain, Blair isn't unapologetic about her controlling, scheming ways; she doesn't enjoy being bad. Meester makes it clear that Blair's bad behavior is driven by her insecurity, a desperate need to feel loved.

When we catch up with Blair at the beginning of the episode she's rushing home to meet up with her dad, Harold (John Shea). When her parents divorced, he ran off to France with his boyfriend Roman (William Abadie), but now he's returning to New York to see her for Christmas. While trying to hail a taxi, Blair tells Serena that she plans on getting Harold to move back to New York.

Serena reminds Blair about Roman but Blair brushes him aside:

"Roman is a phase. My father belongs here with me. He only left New York to ride out the scandal. Time to come home, don't you think?"

Serena, knowing that there's no stopping Blair once a bad idea has gotten into her head, doesn't answer and quickly changes the subject. I'm left curious about what Blair means by "Roman is a phase." Is she saying that her dad is going though a short period of being gay or that Roman is just some short-term fling who'll be quickly forgotten?

When Blair arrives home, her enthusiasm to see her father quickly fades when she realizes that he brought Roman with him on his vacation. Interesting that she seems to have never considered that her father would want to spend the holiday with his boyfriend as well as his daughter. Roman is all sweetness, playing the new stepparent eager to be part of the family. Blair has to be prodded into bring nice to him.

• Breaking! Magazine cover uses term "Million Dollar" to describe Survivor contestant Todd Herzog. THEY MUST KNOW SOMETHING!!!! Yeah ... like how to get free press.

• Hot off the press, I've got some Brothers & Sisters scoop! Those interested in Kevin's relationship with Jason will definitely want to watch the next couple of weeks. But you have to work for it! This Sunday Kevin is ***** ** **** ******** McCallister ******* ****** ***** to *** *** and ***** **** Scotty.

• Breaking! Magazine cover promises proof as to whether Tom Cruise is gay! I'm sensing a trend here...

• A few more tidbits about Torchwood Season 2 -- Ugly Betty's Alan Dale will guest star, and James Marsters plays a remorseless murderer.

• Hey, look: it's Blair's gay dad and his gay boyfriend from the upcoming Gossip Girl! On ice skates. Figures...

• Brian Williams responded to suggestions that he meant anything anti-gay about his "marriage under attack" comments the other night: "The simple fact is that nothing could have been further from my mind." Nothing? Really? How about ... I don't know, The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man?

• Torchwood Season 2 will be coming to the States via BBC America starting January 26th.

• Was this the gayest play opening ever? T.R. Knight, Peter Paige, Matthew Rhys and more!

• Finally, for all of you in the U.S. have a very Happy Thanksgiving. We'll be back next Monday!