Beefcake Breaks Out Everywhere!

We gays have always loved our beefcake. But who would have ever thought that we’d be having it served up to us so often in such fabulous packages as we have lately? Or that we could be so obvious about enjoyin it? And – best of all – not only have our attention appreciated by the objects of our desire, but actually courted by them?

Consider the past seven days or so: After several months of staying uncharacteristically covered up, a shirtless Matthew McConaughey returns to the beaches of Malibu in all his muscular glory. The paparazzi, aware that beefcake shots of the actor are worth top dollar, was in such heavy pursuit that one of them engaged in a widely-reported altercation over the weekend with the Fool's Gold star's fellow surfers.

Matthew McConaughey

David Beckham, whose last series of underwear ads for Emporio Armani nearly caused even straight men to faint at their desks, saw his latest near nude image unveiled on the side of a department store in San Francisco as an onlooking crowd cheered.

David Beckham (left) & MVP's Dillon Casey

ABC's SoapNet, drumming up interest for its new series MVP, which had a sneak preview after the Daytime Emmys on Friday, has wisely centered its advertising campaign around actor Dillon Casey – whose abs and pecs could stop traffic – wearing only underwear and a tattoo on a 60-foot-high billboard in Times Square.

And then, of course, there is Mario Lopez with those dimples and six-pack abs. The star of Broadway's A Chorus Line, host of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew and co-host of Weekend Extra, is wearing nothing and next-to-nothing in a stunning series of photos inside the current issue of People Magazine.

The year's “hottest bachelor” (#37 on the AfterElton Hot 100 list) recreates iconic beefcake poses made famous by others in decades past including Burt Reynolds' 1973 nude Cosmopolitan centerfold, Brad Pitt holding a blow dryer in Thelma & Louise, Mark Wahlberg's Calvin Klein underwear pose and Christopher Atkins in The Blue Lagoon wearing nothing but puka shells and a loincloth.

Mario, 34, knows full well it's the gay guys savoring those pics alongside the girls and says in a Q&A accompanying the sexy shots that he gets hit on by guys "all the time."

“I’m very flattered being popular in the gay community because they are a hip, cool community,” he said. “They’re very cutting edge so they like me and I think that’s great.”

Mario, who could not be reached for an interview, is also shirtless on the cover of next week's issue of TV Guide Magazine which has this cover blurb: "Hot Bods!" Also in the picture is Audrina Partridge, one of those girls from The Hills who have become famous for being famous.

Mario, however, has been famous ever since he played A.C. Slater on the Saved by the Bell series. Aside from the unfortunate mullet haircut, Mario was already a physical specimen who went on to land the lead in Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story in which he played the gay Olympic diver.

Lopez before Dancing with the Stars