As Ellen and Portia walk down the aisle and Neil Patrick Harris escorts his boyfriend to red carpet events, it would seem that being gay in Hollywood has become quite common. And, more importantly, acceptable.

While that's certainly true in a relative sense - can you imagine Rock Hudson doing the same? - the NY Times ran an article this weekend on the challenges facing out actors in Tinseltown.

…For most gay actors, Hollywood is not a warm and fuzzy episode of “Will & Grace.” Today, it is certainly more acceptable to be openly gay. But these actors must still answer wrenching questions: Just how candid do you want to be? Would you be happy appearing only in comedies, or being pigeonholed as a character actor? And what does the line “You’re just not right for the role” really mean?
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Openly gay can still mean they would rather not talk about it. Most gay actors are mum in public or on the set, even if they don’t hide their orientation in private, actors and others in the entertainment industry said. Although most may no longer participate in charades — the “girlfriend” on the red carpet, for instance — many adopt a don’t ask, don’t tell policy.

Why? For both men and women, being openly gay, at least for now, means giving up any hope of superstardom.

That's not true for Ellen, sure, but that doesn't mean she's using her celebrity to help the homos. This picture, taken on Sunday, comes from a "Yes on Prop. 2" event that Ellen and Portia hosted. Proposition 2 is for the rights of farm animals. Though she's spoken out against Proposition 8, which would overturn gay marriage, Ellen has yet to donate or raise money for the cause.

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Neil Patrick Harris and handsome boyfriend David Burtka stepped out at last night's Primetime Emmy Awards. And, if you ask us, they looked positively smashing!

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Neil Patrick Harris graces the latest cover of gay glossy Out. And, like the mensch we know he is, the dreamboat actor spread himself wide open - emotionally, that is - to reveal the quiet trials and tribulations of his otherwise well-documented life. A taste:

OUT: Did growing up in Hollywood make it easier or harder for you to come out?
NPH: I think it was harder. Actually, I think it was easier for me, because I was around a lot of people who were gay and I was around a lot of people who were very confident. I was surrounded by people I could talk to freely about anything, and they were very successful emotionally and otherwise.
OUT: And yet…
NPH: And yet, part of the coming-out process is figuring out who you like and what that means and how to act upon it. Being an actor reduced my level of anonymity. I couldn’t just go to some bar and walk in and ask someone out on a date, because there was too much awareness of me. So it made it more difficult in that sense. I couldn’t be, like, “Maybe I like this kind of guy” or “Maybe I’m into this” — I couldn’t really experiment. I sort of had to narrow my gaze from afar. If I had any regret, it would be that strange lack of anonymity that created panic within myself that I would be found out. But I think that’s everyone’s big fear.

Harris also points to Real World: New Orleans' gay Danny as an "empowering" example of someone who wore his sexuality "comfortably." And he was pretty cute, too.

Britney Spears made her triumphant return to CBS'How I Met Your Mother last night and surprises us yet again with her comendable comedic abilities. Veteran actor Neil Patrick Harris shined, as usual.

Get a Towleroad-provided taste, after the jump…

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Neil Patrick Harris was a chatty Cathy with Howard Stern yesterday and divulged all sorts of juicy details.

Like what? Well, did you know that NPH had his big ears pinned back? Apparently the former Doogie Howser star developed quite a complex, which may have been around the same time that he start having his lavender revelations: age thirteen.

Meanwhile, Harris also informed Stern that he had quite a list of lovely ladies before coming out and estimates that he bagged about 12-15.

That's all behind him now, of course, and the handsome actor simply can't shut up about how much he loves being in a monogamous relationship:

The best part about being in a relationship is like, going through phases and having things being great and things being not-great… I don't know that once your gay you get this card that says that if things aren't going great you can go fuck other guys.

Oh, yes. There's definitely a homo sluttery card. Yours got lost in the mail, unfortunately.

The hip-hop scene's about to be rocked!

Well, that's if you believe Terrence Dean's book publicist. The former MTV executive will soon release Hiding In Hip-Hop, which will allegedly expose the genre's biggest homos. From the release:

"Hiding In Hip-Hop" uncovers a hidden and well-known unspoken secret. Deep within the confines of Hip-Hop is a prominent gay sub-culture. A world that industry insiders are keenly aware of, but choose to ignore.

According to Dean, "This book is filled with intrigue, sexy celebrity bed partners, abundance of drugs, and of course, the down low/gay men and celebrities in the entertainment industry.

This tale's a long time coming. Honky homos have been forced out in recent years, like Lance Bass, Neil Patrick Harris and TR Knight. It's only fair that black folk take some heat, too.

We have no idea who Dean will name, but we've got some theories…

We're not psychic, but we do have some theories…

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Neil Patrick Harris ain't a fan of tricky "stunt casting," but the handsome homo has a thing for magic tricks. The NY Times' "A Night Out With…" column follows Harris and friends to Los Angeles' Magic Castle, where Harris proclaims another love: Scooby-Doo. Ain't that adorable!?

The actor also wants to make sure the world knows he's not a hooker-buying coke tooter.

…Harris was trying to distance himself from the character he plays in the “Harold & Kumar” movies — even though he plays himself.
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To distinguish between Mr. Harris’s authentic and fictional selves, [friend Lori] Medlin pointed out that in real life Mr. Harris has never snorted cocaine off a woman’s behind. “Not this year!” chimed Mr. Harris and Ms. Baeling, in unison. Ba-dum-bum!

She was referring to one of Mr. Harris’s scenes in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, a 2004 dark comedy. In the sequel, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay, Mr. Harris brands a prostitute with his name while hallucinating on magic mushrooms.

We actually kind of wish NPH were like that. We homos need more bat shit crazy celebrities on our team. And, no, we don't count Jim McGreevey.

[Image By Jonathan Alcorn]

Britney Spears' guest spot on How I Met Your Mother brought in some ratings - and laughs - but Neil Patrick Harris doesn't want to make a habit of it:

"I'm in the minority that our show does not need stunt casting in order to succeed," Harris declared
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"I worry that if they start `Will and Grace'-ing us too much, that the show will suffer. And we're all really proud of the content of the show. I mean, viewership is not our game. It's the network and the studio's game, you know. It's the promotion department's game," the actor, who plays womanizer Barney, told The Associated Press in an interview last week.

Boy, this gay really let's it all hang out…

The ever-alluring Cheyenne Jackson gets all sorts of gay in The Advocate's latest edition. Rather than taking his publicists' white-washing advice to eschew his sexuality, the Xanadu actor lets it all hang out. And we mean really out.

The first time that I knew I was gay — I think I was, like, 7 — I was watching this Valentine’s Day Popeye cartoon episode that would play every year. There was this scene where Popeye was captured by Brutus, tied up with no shoes or socks on, and Brutus starts tickling his feet. I remember getting a little boner.

That's - um, good to know.

While a bit queer, Jackson's frankness indicates a shift in Hollywood's pink perspective. Yeah, Xanadu's the gayest show on Broadway and Jackson's straight roles aren't huge - an aborted television show and an upcoming horror movie, Hysteria - but it's all about the context.

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Did someone forget to take their disco nap? Neil Patrick Harris didn't look very pleased during the photo call for HRC's Ally Awards last night.

Meanwhile, George Takei's sudden case of permasmile left guests wondering about his acting future, to which Takei replied, "I guess I'll just have to be type cast: gay!"

Project Runway winner Christian Siriano seemed the gayest to be there. Speaking of smile happy PR alums, why did WireImage credit designer Nick Verreos as an "actor". Even more importantly: what would Shakespeare say about reality shows?

HRC also wrangled wild woman Judith Light for last night's Ally Awards. The Ugly Betty actress seemed randy as ever and got rather cozy with Point Foundation's Jorge Valencia. Hot new couple alert? Speaking of hot couple - check out Ricki Lake's diamond earrings. We're not crying, baby!

Old friend and Ally honoree Anne Hathaway loomed large over HRC honcho, Joe Solmonese, who later gave Miss California Raquel Beezley a bit of a squeeze at the actual ceremony. Do we smell another political sex scandal?

The always handsome John Amaechi also joined the fun and Thea Gill flaunted her seamless skin. And, of course, it wouldn't be a gay event until Wilson Cruz starts the so-called party. Thus it was done…

See the pictures - in that order - after the jump…

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Neil Patrick Harris popped into Late Night with Conan O'Brien to discuss his role in the latest Harold and Kumar flick, watching Jeremy Piven "salivate" over the Victoria Secret ladies and being the Shoe Fairy of Sesame Street.

We snatched this video from AfterElton. It's a bit long, but there's no such thing as too much NPH. No. Such. Thing.

• As we mentioned last Friday, Bid2Beat AIDS' ebay auction makes a triumphant return today. We'll be featuring a number of items over the next few days. Before we get to the Liza Minnelli and Neil Patrick Harris productsd, we'd like to highlight our current favorite: a signed Dynasty era Joan Collins poster. Have you ever seen anything more spectacular? We haven't. It's currently only 19.99: a small price to pay for a piece of camp history. Check it out here.

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