Ridiculously adorable out jazz man Dave Koz plays the 11th Annual GLAAD Tidings Concert (GETTY)

Following this 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.

• Out Broadway badunk-adunk Cheyenne Jackson has revealed that he will be playing the lead in Mormon Musical, a project being workshopped next month by the creators of South Park and Avenue Q. Please tell me there's a number about sacred underpants that really gets to the crotch heart of the issue...

• Out actor David Hyde Pierce was among the 20,000 or so folks in Los Angeles who marched on Saturday for marriage equality.

• I find it hard to believe that the man who unleashed Vanity 6 on the world could get high and mighty about anything, least of all the people who kept half of his camptacular acts in business.

Candorville

• Above, the always provocative Candorville comic tackled religion, race and marriage equality this week (click the link for the full strip). Artist Darrin Bell (who is himself of mixed religious and racial backgrounds) has a long history of supporting gay causes.

• Australian site SameSame is launching a webseries called Camp Surf that takes five gay men and teaches them how to ride the waves. Cute!

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

Boyzone's Stephen Gately

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.

• Boyzone, a UK boyband from the 90s with an out gay member (Stephen Gately, pictured above) has reemerged with a new sexier look to match their more mature audience. Nice to see that when this article mentions that all the bandmembers are now married, they include Gately, who entered into a civil partnership with his fella in 2006.

• This week's Candorville comic is tackling the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California. (t/y Lyle!)

• The NY Times' Dennis Lim recently wrote a nice, wistful piece on "gay punk provocateur" Derek Jarman (a documentary on the late filmmaker, Derek, is headed this way) that includes an interview with Jarman's longtime friend Tilda Swinton.

• Sir Ian McKellen, one of our biggest and brightest out gay stars, turned 69 years young on Sunday. Happy birthday, Sir!

• Prolific director, producer and actor Sidney Pollack died yesterday of cancer at age 73. He directed such classics as Tootsie, Out of Africa, and They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and played Will Truman's father on Will & Grace.

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

Two weeks ago I wrote about the daily cartoon strip Candorville in my BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER column. In case you missed that dazzling column, the strip is drawn by Darrin Bell and tells the story of struggling writer Lemont Brown, and his circle of friends. The strip is hip, urban, and unabashedly liberal as evidenced by the entire week of strips devoted to how the right demonizes us 'mos. We were so impressed with Mr. Bell's work that we asked him to do a Two Bite interview with us. He, of course, graciously agreed and we think you'll be as impressed with his smarts, compassion, and wit as we are.

AfterElton: Candorville is unabashedly pro-gay. What accounts for your sensibility on the issue? Gay friends or family? Or are just an all around cool guy?
Darrin Bell: My mom's White (and Jewish), and my dad's Black (and Christian). So I've been in the minority everywhere, even in my own family, since day one. I know what it feels like to be seen as something weird. I know what it feels like to be considered an abomination just because of what I am. So there's no way in hell I'm going to stand by in silence and watch anyone be treated that way. I do have several gay friends (and I'm sure I must have family who are gay), but knowing someone shouldn't be a prerequisite for empathizing with that person. I felt the way I do now long before I ever met a gay person. As silly as it sounds, I've felt this way ever since I was four and saw the first episode of Three's Company. This country's filled with people like "Mr. Roeper," and that's got to change.