Luke Macfarlane for Out (Photo: Greg Lotus)

Out magazine has begin to tease this years Out 100, their annual list of "gay men and women who moved culture". Their first reveal includes out actors Luke Macfarlane, John Barrowman and Sir Ian McKellen, MSNBC rising star Rachel Maddow, actor Wilson Cruz, Ugly Betty producer Silvio Horta as well as newlyweds George Takei and Brad Altman.

Photo credit: Greg Lotus

Find out more about the early revelations along with a few reactions after the break.

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.

• Good news for Noah's Arc fans! The feature NA film, Jumping the Broom, will hit theaters October 24th (in limited distribution, natch). For updates and cities, check out the movie's website.

• This Out article about the first gay couple to be married in Palm Springs is classic rubbernecking material. Wait, Paul and Dean think that leather guys, drag queens and transgender individuals are "bad examples" of the LGBT community ... while they're the ones getting photographed wearing matching doily-pants?

• By contrast, this interview from the L.A. Times with Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler about their upcoming wedding is positively charming. (Like we expected less.)

• Best Week Ever has compiled the 10 Most Inappropriate "Touch My Body" covers. Yes, some of them are by men or those who will someday be men.

• I guess this is hardly news, but I think Morrissey needs a hug.

• Always-entertaining out NBA Hall of Famer John Amaechi is blogging from Beijing, giving a rare gay's-eye view of the Olympics.

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

Neil Patrick Harris fascinates me. Hot on the heels of his biggest endorsement deal (for Old Spice, not exactly a "gay" product by any means) he's pulled his highest-profile gay media move yet in gracing the cover of next month's Out magazine (UPDATE: The full interview is now up on the mag's website). And let's not even get into the Emmy nomination, the magic shows, the Sesame Street appearance, or Harold and Kumar. NPH continues to break the rules, and we love him for it.

In the interview, NPH reportedly calls Anderson Cooper "dreamy" three times and says that gay marriage rights are important to him, though he doesn't speak to specific wedding plans for him and his longtime boyfriend David Burtka. And then he offers a bunch of pics of himself done up as the Marlboro Man in a vain attempt to make us lose track of the real important wait David who? Married what?

Huh? Dreamy...

(More pics over here)

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...

February 2008 Out Magazine

2008’s first issue of Out magazine is hitting the stands with its Swimsuit Issue. February's centerpiece is a five page essay on Hot Nude Yoga (HNY), a New York City-based gay-centric practice. Out’s a gay magazine so nothing unusual there, right?

Well, Out chose a straight writer with no apparent yoga experience to be our eyes and ears regarding HNY to determine whether the company provided any “yogic benefit, or if it was just a place for dudes to hook up.” Were there no gay, capable freelance writers available to conduct this research? Or did the magazine have a different, more prurient angle in mind?

Aaron Star leading a HNY classBefore attending the class, our author (he’s straight he reminds us again in case we missed it) admits that he’s scared of being naked around gay men and cops to imagining gay guys in the class frolicking about and groping one another — and him.

Once the author goes to an actual class, the readers get page after page about his penis, more about his fear that a gay man would cop a feel, his not being able to focus due to his fears, and a confessional about his “spiteful” penis which he worries might betray him and get aroused. Hidden in the article are two quotes from Aaron Star, HNY’s founder, which are apparently used to comply with the author’s preconceived notion that gay nude yoga is a place to hook up with dudes.

He concludes that he’s not sure if what he did was yoga, but it was nude, kind of nice, and informs us that his penis remained “quiet and obediently limp.” All those pages, and not even a single quote from any of the gay men in the class? I hoped that at worst the writer would play the role of a young Jane Goodall, and the gays at HNY would be the chimpanzees. No such luck even on that level. I am gay, practice yoga, and have gone to nude yoga five times and can testify HNY deserved better than Out gave it.

At best the story is vanity piece peppered with snarky comments about gay butt hair and dangling testicles. The openly-gay founder and his followers come off looking lousy and even a little shady. When contacted for a quote regarding the essay, Mr. Star responded that “(f)or PR, the piece is great and the wise will seek the truth, and the unwise will continue in their way as they would if the article was an incredible piece of journalism.”

I subscribe to Out partly due to its status as the leading gay monthly and because it’s a colorful/feel-good read. If I wanted to know what obliquely homophobic straight men think of gays, I’d subscribe to Details.

Here it is, folks, Out Magazine's biggest cover of the year, which features Out 100 special honorees Bryan Batt, Jennifer Hudson, Mary-Louise Parker, Bill T. Jones, and Thom Browne.

But that's not all: breaking news from the Out Mothership reveals that this year there will be a 101st honoree, Annie Lennox. Lennox will receive the Humanitarian of the Year award and will screen a short film detailing her efforts to combat AIDS in Africa at tonight's ceremony.

Congrats to all honorees, many of whom I hope to attack at the party tonight. For the full list and lotsa fun pics, check out the Out 100 website.

UPDATE: It also looks like I'll be Twittering live from the event tonight right here on the blog, so check back in for all the up-to-the-minute dish. It'll be like the As the World Turns liveblogs, only I'll have pants on!

In a rather curious "soft outing", Noah's Arc star Darryl Stephens has come out in Out Magazine via his inclusion in the Out 100. (That's a lot of "out" for someone who doesn't discuss his sexuality!) Says the blurb on their blog:

"In a year of revolving closet doors for TV actors, we can also offer one long-anticipated quiet confirmation: Noah's Arc star Darryl Stephens, who has declined to discuss his sexuality while playing a series of nuanced gay roles. He doesn't exactly talk about it, but he proudly joins the other queer honorees in our pages."

I've confirmed with the folks at Out that being gay is and has always been a criterion for the list, so it's safe to say that his appearance here is his coming out party. It's nice to see Hot 100 vet Stephens embracing his out status in the same way that his gay fans have embraced him, and I'm personally looking forward to being able to cover him and his projects without having to talk around the issue. The guy's gorgeous, charismatic, and a lot of fun to watch, and I think that's what we'd all rather focus on.

• Entertainment Weekly does what we do every day: Eat a box of Mallowmars in a closet and weep. Woops -- sorry, that's mourn the dearth of gay films post-Brokeback and turn to television for solace.

• Barrowmania! ® for Kids: John will be participating in next month's BBC Children in Need telethon, likely in a musical capacity.

• CMT is producing a makeover show called Trick My Trucker, which looks to zhuzh up our long-haul drivers. Unless they're trying to get these guys action in highway rest stop bathrooms, I might suggest changing the title.

• The Out 100 rollout has begun. Don't worry, I'm sure we're somewhere down the list. (Opens new box of Mallowmars)

Didn't get enough of that handsome rascal John Barrowman from our interview with him? The dashing and very out actor graces the cover of next month's Out Magazine, as you can see above. Rawr.

The upcoming issue of Out Magazine features a big piece on near-universally-beloved (and certainly Universally-beloved, as they do own Bravo) Tim Gunn, whose new show, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, promises to be "the little black dress of makeover shows."

As you can see above, our lovable Project Runway taskmaster is looking dapper as ever as he ramps up his new project. Here are a few choice quotes from the silver fox:

On his style philosophy:

"... there are two maxims that I subscribe to: One is about fit, and the other is about posture. I had a guy come up to me on the subway platform a couple of months ago who said, 'How do I get my suits to fit better?' I walked around him and said, 'I’m going to give you the simplest solution in the world, and forgive me if it sounds abrupt and rude, but just stand up straight!' He did, and looked much better."

On growing up:

"I was fixated on architecture and interiors, which of course had everybody worried. I had a really butch father — so butch I thought maybe he was a closet case. He was an FBI agent and a sports lover, and the only sport I could even participate in was swimming, because it was nice and clean and you didn’t sweat."

On being a part of Bravo's gay crusade:

"I’m so proud to be part of Bravo largely because of that. They’ve totally demystified gayness. Of course, the striking element about Runway’s third season was that the two male finalists were heterosexual. That was really weird and unexpected given the pool, but it happens."

On relationships:

"I haven’t been in a relationship since 1982. God, that sounds pathetic. But I was so severely hurt that I’ve never, ever gotten over it. I was so madly and desperately in love that I didn’t see the end coming. It was a routine night on the couch watching television, and he turned to me and just said, 'I don’t have the patience for you. I can’t do this anymore.' After nine years. I still remember leaving his apartment, driving down Rock Creek Parkway in Washington, D.C., thinking, Maybe I’ll just drive right off the bridge.

Well, I used to live right at the top of Rock Creek on 16th Street, and I would have been there to catch you and your car, Tim! Although not in 1982. I was seven. Sorry!

The interview — chock full of other classic Timicisms — runs in Out's September issue, which hits shelves soon.