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.

• Brilliant but uncanceled:
  Here's some very good news for DC fans, the critically-adored series Manhunter will be returning in June. Out writer Marc Andreyko is still writing the series, thankfully. Meanwhile, Michael Gaydos, who gave us some really dramatic work on Alias, it taking over the art duties.

  

  Manhunter was the series where Obsidian's sexual orientation was finally confirmed to readers, after years of speculation. There's no word yet if Obsidian will continue to appear in the title, but does JSA really need him to appear in the background of crowd scenes every couple issues?
  
  
• Plus it's hosted by Guy Smiley's CGI brother:
  Could Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz be the gayest party game ever? According to GayGamer's tiny dancer, the game's trivia questions reveal a definite gay sensibility -- what other Playstation game would expect you to know Elizabeth Taylor's eye color? Sounds fabulous.
  
  
• Praising Strangers:
  Among this year's GLAAD Media Award winners is Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise which just wrapped up its 14-year run and I couldn't be happier to see the title end on that note.
  
  I'm a huge fan of SiP, which was a big soap opera where all the old romantic cliches are thrown at a same-sex couple (I tuned in at the point where Katchoo deliberately broke Francine's heart because she was afraid her mob past would put Francine in danger.) In honor of the win, I'll share a panel from my favorite moments from the series:

  

  It turns out that the woman is the ghost of Francine's ancestor who killed herself after giving in to family pressure not to marry the man she loved. I just love how Moore found such an emotional way to compare the struggle for same-sex marriage rights with the bigotry interracial couples once faced. Now, if only someone would create a gay male comic like SiP.
  
  
• What was that line about underestimating the intelligence of people?
  A few weeks ago, I mentioned Get Off the Internet, a blog collecting the dumb things said on message boards. Lately, it's been taking frequent aim at homophobic fools, including people outraged at Angels in America being taught in schools and a guy still bitter about that Rawhide Kid comic. Not only is this turning out to be the funniest thing since the Fanboy Rampage blog closed shop, it's giving some people a long-overdue public shaming.
  
  
• It's the return of the fanboys with an easily-threatened masculinity:
  Sigh. Well, last year there was a big hubub when photorealistic painter Alex Ross created a cover portrait of Citizen Steel that realistically depicted the kind of bulge you'd see on a guy wearing skintight spandex and a chorus of straight fanboys hilariously turned into Aunt Sassy, howling "I don't need to see that!" Apparently, pink jogging suits are back in fashion because there's another freak-out over an Alex Ross cover (warning site may be NSFW due to, uhm, photoreferences). Here's the cover in question

  

  It took me a moment for figure out what the fuss was about. How come straight guys are so much better at spotting pickle?

  
  
  

"Single? Who, me?"

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.

• Publicists, shmublicists! Lance Bass allegedly made a quick change on his Myspace page and saved us all a press conference about his relationship status. I'm loving this Internet thing!

• At a recent preview for the Patti LuPone-starring Broadway Gypsy revival, an air vent fell from the ceiling and nailed a woman on the head. And here I thought I had a story when my sister-in-law got puked on during the second-act opener of Chicago!

• Conservative Christians are all up in arms over Angels in America's being assigned to high school students, calling the play "racist 'gay' porn." You know, that "multiple Tony-winning, multiple Emmy-winning, multiple SAG-Award-winning, multiple Golden-Globe-winning, Pulitzer-effing-Prize-winning racist 'gay' porn."

• Above I've posted a cute best-moments fanvid taken at the recent Good Medicine benefit for Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crewmembers, including a snippet of T.R. Knight singing a song from Follies.

• On a personal note, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone here at AfterElton.com, both behind the scenes and on the pages. This marks my one year anniversary of being on the editorial staff (Michael, that sting of regret will fade with time, I swear!) and it's been quite an adventure so far. I'm taking a few days off for my birthday but of course with Michael, Dennis, Brent, the Blogsketeers, our crackerjack writers and many wonderfully engaged readers keeping you entertained and informed, it probably won't even register. Thanks to all for your support, feedback, insight and humor, and for making the year the success that it has been!

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