I'm a day late on this, but was anyone else vaguely annoyed by the minor "gay" sub-plot on Monday's episode of How I Met Your Mother? Desperate for money, Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) decide to try to sell Lily's paintings. They have the usual sitcom-y back luck ... until Lily manages, to her delight, to sell a painting to the arbiters of truly good taste, a "GAYCWK" — a Gay Couple Without Kids.

But Marshall loves the painting and wants it back, so he goes to visit the gay couple's apartment. After Marshall inquires about the painting — "the one in the nice frame" — one of the gay guys says (in a queeny, lascivious voice):

"Talk about a nice frame! You are a big one, aren't you? My, my. And you're married to that little bit of a thing. How does that work? I'd like to find out."

The show pretends that Marshall, an obviously married, heterosexual man, would flattered by this creepy, totally inappropriate sexual attention, rather than having him give the correct response, which would be to tell the gay guy to go f*#& himself.

I confess: I hate gay-guy-hitting-on-straight-guy humor. I hate it when frat-boy comedies cement the rock-solid heterosexuality of their main characters by having them get hit on by, and then rejecting, some queeny stereotype of a gay guy.

(For the record, I also hate it when drag queens get cheap laughs by making double entendres to the hapless straight guy in the audience. Passive aggressive much?)

Anyway, you can tell who has the real power in Hollywood by looking atwho the sexual predators tend to be in movies and one television: women and gay men. Um, yeah, cause that's the way it is in real life.

This whole thing was beneath How I Met Your Mother, which, after the brilliant new Robin Sparkles video "Sandcastles in the Sand" a few weeks ago, had been on something of a winning streak.

I mean, the gay couple wasn't just creepy-lascivious, they were literally limp-wristed!

I refuse to blame Neil Patrick Harris for this — hey, he's just another actor on the show. But did the whole thing strike anyone else as a series of gags straight out of the 1980s?

Tony winners David Hyde Pierce are and Sara Ramirez are all smiles at this morning's announcement

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.

• The other day we mentioned that Neil Patrick Harris and Rosie O'Donnell would be among the celebrity guests on the upcoming primetime Million Dollar Password. Here's a rather hilarious interview with NPH behind-the-scenes, compete with another excellent Regis impression.

• Hiding in Hip Hop author Terrance Dean will be reading from the tell-most book this week in NYC, and taking Q&A. Check out AfterElton.com contributor Clay Cane's site for details.

• Hey Freak Show fans: Check out this kinda hilarious video of author James St. James reading from his brilliant young adult novel along with several other Lambda Literary Award nominees at A Different Light bookstore, hosted by Christopher Rice.

• In case you missed it, Neil Patrick Harris wound up in bed with Britney last night ... so that we don't have to. Thanks for taking one for the team, NPH!

• Apparently actor Mike Epps is famous enough to be stalked and harassed into a verbal and physical altercation by the bottom-feeders at TMZ. Epps regrettably stoops the their level by calling one of the paps "a fag, homosexual". 

• RADAR takes Joel Derfner, the author of Swish, to the Hello Kitty store and out for ice cream. Given that the rest of the book's title is "My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever", I'm guessing "Swish" isn't a basketball reference?

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Gay musician Dan Gillespie Sells and his band The Feeling rock Radio 1's Big Weekend in the UK

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.

• "The password is ... gay!" CBS is running six primetime eps of Million Dollar Password with host Regis Philbin over the summer, with celebrity guests including Neil Patrick Harris, Rosie O'Donnell, and more.

• Sad: John Barrowman's dog Lewis died last week, after twelve happy years with John and Scott.

• There's a comedy show about off-duty superheroes called No Heroics in the works for British TV, and an eagle-eyed reader tipped us off that one of the heroes is gay. The character's name is Time Bomb, and he's played by James Lance. (t/y Ben Weldon!)

• Above, adorable gay actor Eric Millegan dishes to Michael Ausiello about the fate of his character (Zach) in the much-hyped Bones finale. Good news: he doesn't die. Bad news: he becomes well-acquainted with hospital pudding.

• Speculation abounds regarding the blind-item-outed figures in the forthcoming Hiding in Hip Hop gay tell-all.

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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.

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Moonlight's totally not-gay vampires (Jason Dohring and Alex O'Laughlin)

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.

• We've been mooning over Moonlight as of late (sexy men biting each other ... what's not to like?!), and it looks like they're on to us. In the recent "Beautiful People You're Not" issue of TV Guide, lead Alex O'Loughlin's co-star Sophia Myles notes, "The young girls love him, the older ladies love him, and the gay guys love him." So ... work well done, men.

• Moviefone is is running a feature on the 25 Sexiest Movie Couples, and were considerate enough to include two same-sex pairings in the bunch. (The Brokeback Mountain fellas are #13, and the ladies from Mulholland Drive make a much-deserved appearance as well.)

• Hey Clive Barker fans: if you're in or around NYC, the Sloan Gallery will be showing some of his latest artwork (including conceptual artwork from the upcoming Midnight Meat Train movie) for another week. Check it out!

• Maybe Neil Patrick Harris should never have clarified those misinterpreted anti-Britney remarks after all ... no good deed goes unpunished, Neil!

• Gay geek alert! Renowned out comics artist Phil Jimenez was at the recent NY Comic Con and this site has a lengthy interview with him regarding what he's up to.

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

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...

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 case you were wondering, Neil Patrick Harris is, on a scale of "awesome to awesome" ... "awesometeen". And great news: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is in the can!

• The Sunday Times film section bemoans the death of masculinity in American films, citing the Judd Apatow Schlub Factory as responsible for burying the macho idols of the past. Uh, sorry ... Katherine Hepburn could have taken Cary Grant in a fistfight any day of the week.

• If you'd like to help counteract the AFA's campaign against Luke and Noah, it's best to send emails and letters directly to Procter & Gamble, and not using the AFA's comment generator, as the recipients may not have the bandwidth to read the actual emails and may simply record the AFA-generated emails as a strike against our fellas.

• Happy birthday to short-lived Project Runway designer turned dashing television corpse ... Jack Mackenroth!

• Looks like Rodrigo Santoro's role in the upcoming Jim Carrey gay prison romance comedy I Love You Phillip Morris is just about as flamboyant as his role in 300.

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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?

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.

• One of tonight's episodes of the PBS documentary Carrier is called "Super Secrets" and discusses life on board the USS Nimitz for gay and lesbian servicemembers. Towleroad has an interview with Brian Downey, one of those servicemembers.

• Britney Spears is coming back to How I Met Your Mother (yawn) and what's up with Barney's (Neil Patrick Harris) kiss with Robin?

• The American Family Association (aka The Winguts of America) are getting in Procter & Gamble's face because As the World Turns "has resumed using explicit, open-mouth homosexual kissing". Really? Gosh, we hadn't noticed! Naturally, this calls for another one of the AFA's "successful" boycotts and they are encouraging folks to write letters to P&G. I used the AFA's own form letter to tell P&G to ignore these loons, but you should probably drop them a note as well.

• The out Rhys Bobridge came in second in Australia's first edition of So You Think You Can Dance.

Rhys Bobridge, Jack Chambers

• Steve Rothaus is blogging the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival including an appearance by the always fabulous Jennifer Tilly.

• Greg Hernandez of Out in Hollywood ran into Marc Cherry at the GLAAD Awards in LA and Marc told him Brothers & Sisters' Kevin and Scotty aren't the only ABC gays exchanging vows.

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