irish your still dropping "straight" knowledge after all these years. You bring so much to a conversation. I wish I could add to this but I have personally had the opposite experience. Mostly I have friends that I want to see naked, it may be a subconscious thing but I believe thats why I identify as more gay than not. I may enjoy the female form and love sucking tits, but find that I prefer the kind of bond that men share as it feels honest and straight forward. My experience with most women has led me down the road of hyper generalizing them and a general distrust of most of them.
That being said after years of having sex with men who identify as straight, I've actually begun to have sex with men who identify as gay (at least one in 3).
Back to your point. Personally I think all men crave the companionship of men, not in a sexual sense but in a like minded, similarly cut from the same cloth "you get me" kind of thing. We challenge each other physically and intellectually as well as empathize sometimes without words in a way that (when there is no sexual tension or desire) is the closest you can get to being family without being family. I've found a couple friends who fill that need and have taken them on as surrogate brothers. It's the best thing in the world to have that male bond with no sexual tension. It's a bond that is not as cheesy as the stuff in movies but does complete what I believe are the need men have to bond with other men. PLATONIC, deep and from a guy who really likes other guys, completely sexless. They are both straight have known I was queer before I told them and I've never had better friends.