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.

Hello, my name is Dan and I'm addicted to a little known gay show called Ugly Betty, maybe you've heard of it? By some bizarro chance a network show with openly gay characters, faghags, gay celebrity cameos, friends of Dorothy, and a "hot tranny mess" (their words, not ours!) is being embraced by mainstream America ... who knew? 

Thankfully, millions of you (including the warped minds behind this very site) were in on what I'm just now discovering - that Ugly Betty is a beautifully unapologetic, out and proud celebration of queerness and diversity!

When I received the pilot for Betty in the summer of 2006, I watched it and tossed it back into the pile of screeners from which it came because I thought, "eh."  I feared that the show couldn't walk the fine line between camp and drama without losing its way and I was positive there was no way in frakkin' hell that Sue from Boise was going to embrace the quirk.  Well look who's got egg on his face now?

Not only has Ugly Betty been able to balance laugh out loud camp with sincere and heartbreaking drama (Santos, RIP), it's been able to increase gay visibility in prime-time without any backlash.  Celebs are beating down the Mode door to guest star (Victoria Beckham, Rita Moreno, Patti Lupone, Rebecca Gayheart, Gene Simmons, Project Runway's Tim Gunn and Christian Siriano, Idol's Kat McPhee) and they just landed a huge liability guest star in Lindsay Lohan. Lohan will guest in the May 22nd finale as a mean girl from Betty's past.  At this time, it's reported that LiLo will also return for at least 5 episodes next Fall.  That's crazy talk!

Also crazy ... amazing (cramazing if you will) is the news that Betty will move production to New York City for Season 3.  If you were fooled by the numerous green-screened NYC skyline shots, you're obviously blind because the show has been shot entirely in Hollywood and it was painfully obvious.  *That rustling you hear is all of the AfterElton staffers honing their stalking skills (Christopher Gorham watch out) and ABC prepping a slew of restraining orders to prepare for the move East.

Why do I love Ugly Betty?  Three words: Marc and Amanda.

Michael Urie and Becky Newton are the new Jack and Karen (Will & Grace) with less squealing and a smidge less booze.  As I mentioned in my blog, "Marc and Amanda are so funny that I want to marry both of them and have a cult somewhere in Texas where we breed thousands of little Justin Suarez’s." 

Watching Marc develop from a one-note caricature of a queer to a relationship-ready fully realized character has been my biggest treat while plowing through two seasons of Ugly Betty in less than 3 weeks.  His friendship with Amanda has delivered some of the best comedic lines of any show I've seen all year and their love/hate relationship is aces.  They're co-dependent and I'm looking to join their needy circle because seriously, we'd all be BFF's.  I'm sure you feel the same way.

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow night at 8:00pm EST (ABC) to see Hilda bring the smackdown on Justin's gym teacher (Eddie Cibrian, no less!) and Betty avoid another smackdown with Charlie.  Again, my name is Dan and I'm happy to be down with the Ugly. 

After the break, we're posting some of the best pics from the upcoming finale, which involves three words that could strike fear into the hearts of many gay men: company softball game. 

Eddie Cibrian got game

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.

• Our Hamlet 2 obsession grows: there is indeed a gay character in the central cast (Rand Posin) and he's played by Skylar Astin, best known as Georg in Broadway's smash hit Spring Awakening. He's the one in pink (natch!) in front of Sexy Jesus in the above pic.

• Professional disaster Pete Burns couldn't make his same-sex marriage work ... and neither should you.

• You know, I really don't need a reason to stop watching Ugly Betty ... but thanks, Lindsay.

• Tiim Gunn hobnobbing with the newly-sworn-in governor of New York? That can't be a bad thing.

• What with Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, Michael Urie and a host of other gays and gay-faves (Spice Girls! Sylar!), the Upright Cabaret series looks like about the most fabulous thing ever.

• Cheyenne Jackson has joined the Encores! cast of Damn Yankees, joining Will & Grace's Sean Hayes, Jane Krakowski, and Ana Gasteyer.

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

all photos courtesy Getty Images

The 19th annual GLAAD media awards were held in Hollywood on Saturday, and the the event was impressively heavy on star power. Kathy Griffin opened the show — during her act she invited her mother onstage to quiz her about her knowledge of the LGBT community.

The biggest award of the evening, the Vanguard Award, was presented by Ellen DeGeneres and was given to Janet Jackson. Said Jackson in her acceptance speech, "To everyone at GLAAD and everyone in this room, I would just like to say that I hope I can always walk worthy of this award that I have both in my hand and my heart."

Also honored was Rufus Wainwright. He accepted the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community. Said Wainwright, "I'd like to thank GLAAD so much for allowing the world to see us as we are – as human beings – and to fight for us when we are being defamed and maligned," Wainwright said accepting his award. "And also to allow gay people, who think that everything's fine, to actually realize that it's not, and that there is a lot of work to do."

The remaining award winners (including honored television series) as well as red carpet photos after the break!

Shelter star Trevor Wright (the gay surfing movie is currently available On Demand on here!)

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.

• Attention Shelter-lovers! Cutiepie lead actor Trevor Wright has been cast as the lead in thriller Vacancy 2. I'm thinking it will be kind of like Vacancy 1, only with cheaper actors. (Sorry, but Trevor ain't Luke Wilson!)

• Canadian ultimate fighter Kalib Starnes lost badly to competitor Nate Quarry over the weekend, and stooped to calling him a "faggot" after the fight was over, which of course aired nationally and is now preserved online (warning, several uses of the "other F word" also featured) for perpetuity. In case you're keeping score, the guy who WON is the "faggot". (t/y Stephanie for the tip!)

• Last week we applauded Melbourne television anchor Peter Hitchener for choosing to come out as a gay man for no apparent reason. Well, now it's being alleged that he was blackmailed into coming out by the paper that nabbed the "exclusive". We still applaud Hitchener. The Sunday Herald Sun? Not so much.

Ugly Betty's fab three (Becki Newton, Michael Urie, David Blue)

• Not to be dense, but what the heck kind of sex toy can you fit in your boot, anyway?

• The first Official Ugly Betty Podcast (vlog, dahlings - podcast is SO 2006...) is pretty much the awesomest thing I've seen all month, thanks mostly to the Continued Genius of Becki Newton and the moment where Michael Urie squeezes David Blue's moob.

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

Yesterday People Magazine posted a couple of pics from the May 1 episode of Ugly Betty which features a guest appearance by Project Runway winner Christian Siriano. Frankly, this seems like brilliant casting as the over-the-top Christian and his equally over-the-top clothes fit in rather well with Betty. Christian designed all the clothes being worn by the models as well as Amanda's (Becki Newton) outfit. I confess to being rather intrigued to see the episode.

Christian Siriano, Becki Newton

More pics after the jump! (All pictures courtesy of ABC/Vivian Zink)

Work. 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.

• People has the first look at Project Runway winner Christian Siriano's guest stint on Ugly Betty.

• Lapsed Scientologist Jason Beghe (I remember him fondly as the oft-nude star of the killer-simian thriller Monkey Shines) spilled the dirt on the group, including that they once blamed his having a gay friend for a near-fatal car accident.

• Singer Jason Mraz chatted with Out about his gay support network, "keeping his options open", and "a couple of random, random, quick gay club experiences."

• Gay Episode Alert! Next week's Law & Order: SVU features a gay football player who is forced out of the closet when his partner is murdered. The boys at OutSports have the scoopage, from the source. The actor playing the footie, Bailey Chase (Saving Grace, As the World Turns), is above.

• Ask Neil Patrick Harris Anything: Oh my. This could get real ugly, real fast...

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