Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (May 23, 2008)

THERE IS GAY-FRIENDLY AND THERE IS GAY-FRIENDLY!
The name Marcus Patrick might ring bells for a lot of gay boys for a variety of reasons. The Brit actor has turned heads on two soap operas (All My Children, Days of Our Lives), he had a part in Maurice Jamal's gay-themed Dirty Laundry, and he also appeared in a gay-themed commercial for Orbitz. Oh, yeah — he also posed naked for Playgirl. It was that spread for the magazine that got Marcus canned from Days because posing buck nekkid is just so unacceptable when starring on a daytime soap filled with betrayal, infidelity, adultery, and so forth.

B. Scott, Marcus Patrick

Well, via Rod 2.0, I came across more evidence of just how down with us 'mos is Mr. Patrick. The actor recently dropped by to chat with out internet celebrity B. Scott to talk about his soap opera days, his infamous pictorial and more. Oh, and he also decided to perform a little bump and grind routine for Scott and his audience (something the straight Patrick apparently used to do in gay bars back in the day). But before that, Marcus discusses American's obsession with nudity (via Janet Jackson's nipple), his philosohy about life, his theories about gay people, and much more.

If you think being a pretty soap opera star means being dull and unintelligent, Mr. Patrick will prove you wrong. And while Marcus' bump-and-grind performance is definitely hot, what most impresses me is that here is a straight guy who is not only not the least bit concerned about being an object of desire for gay men, he's actually delighted to embrace it.

Three cheers for Patrick and might I suggest the producers of As the World Turns consider adding Marcus to their show. Something tells me he wouldn't have the least issue playing a gay character. Speaking of which, here is Marcus' commercial for Orbitz where he plays one half of a gay couple.

And as long as we're talking cool straight men coming to us via Rod 2.0, Rod also reports gay-friendly hip-hop artist Pharrell Williams is gracing the spring/summer cover of Vogue Hommes International which is also profiling the stylish singer.

Pharrell Williams
Getty Images/Evan Agostini/Brad Barket

For those fashion-impaired like myself, you might not have known that Williams had teamed with Louis Vuitton's out designer Marc Jacobs to design a line of luxury jewelry. Naturally, being a well-dressed and well-spoken rapper must mean there is something suspect about Pharrell and sure enough, last year some hack by the name of Beanie Sigel "accused" Pharrell and fellow rapper Kanye West of being gay.

Kanye West, Pharrell

Getty Images/Peter Kramer

In a YouTube clip since pulled by Sigel, the rapper not only said Pharrell and West were gay, but added:

Where I'm from, you walkin' down the street like that, you liable to get something happen to you. Yeah, you might as well come out the closet, homeboy.

Classy, no? I can only imagine what Mr. Sigel would have to say to Marcus Patrick. Oh, did I mention Patrick is an expert in Tae-Kwon-Do? Perhaps Sigel wouldn't say anything after all.