Zachary Koval Is Gay, Vegetarian and a PETA pinup VEGETARIANS and gay men come in all sizes and types. Zachary Koval, who happens to be both, comes in what you would call the chiseled gladiator package. That is why the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals selected him as one of the Sexiest Vegetarians Next Door for 2012. His contest-winning photograph smolders. But having the cut body of a gay warrior doesn't mean he is uninhibited or glib in a party-boy way. On the contrary, he is as insecure and as thoughtful as the best of us. "When I was a kid, everyone told me how skinny I was, so I've had a skinny complex my whole life," Mr. Koval said recently over an early morning breakfast of oatmeal, dried fruit and nuts at "sNice, a vegetarian and vegan cafe in the West Village. Even now, when I look at myself in the mirror, I still see a skinny kid standing there. That's not what the audience at Broadway Bares saw this month when Mr. Koval volunteered to walk among them in a black Speedo with a change box attached in front to encourage guests at the benefit to swap big bills for tip singles. Pictures of him on the Internet, holding a "tip the dancers" sign and wearing a crown and not much else, made him blush. Of course, as an aspiring professional actor, he would have preferred being on stage. But it was fun, he said, and also disconcerting to be so scantily clad in public. "Sometimes it seems so ironic," he said. I mean, I'm a vegetarian whose message is all about compassion and I'm putting myself out there as a piece of meat. Or perhaps, in this case, a hunk of burning tofu. Ah, New York, city of reinvention, self-questioning, roads not taken and every other kind of catalyst for transformation. Not many years ago, Mr. Koval, 29, a nature-loving native of Portland, Ore., and a vegetarian since the age of 10, was touring the country with an itinerant theater company that staged musicals using local children. He looks on that time as the happiest of his life. "It was so rewarding being on the road giving all kinds of kids a chance to shine on stage," he said. I loved that job, even when I was dressed as a bear with a hula hoop around my waist. But the world was calling, and soon he was moving to New York to pursue an acting career. He ended up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a vortex of veganism, where he read a PETA pamphlet about the suffering of cows used for milk and hens used for eggs, and he decided to become a vegan. Then he joined a gay vegan pot luck group and, because he missed being around nature, a gay outdoor adventure group as well. One day a friend asked him to sign up for a Tough Mudder obstacle race. When he got himself into shape for it, he felt inspired. A photographer asked him to pose shirtless. "It was something I'd never done before, and it was very scary," he said. Someone saw the picture and sent it to PETA's sexiest vegetarian contest. The rest is history, if being a "sexiest vegetarian next door" counts as such. Mr. Koval, whose abs rival those of any steroidal meat eater and who might be seen as more Vegas than vegan when posing, enjoys battling stereotypes of gays and vegetarians. And he feels empowered by battling his own timidity by putting his body, if not on the line, then at least in the public eye for a good cause. But here's the thing: Not much has changed since Mr. Koval, who has a theater degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., became a gay vegetarian pinup. No calls from casting agents or Abercrombie & Fitch have come in. "I did get contacted by a farm sanctuary that works with troubled kids," said Mr. Koval, who works as a waiter at Cafe Blossom, a vegan restaurant on the Upper West Side, and performs pro bono with Dzieci, an experimental Brooklyn theater company. Beyond his physique, there is something winning about Mr. Koval. He wants to get ahead, but he also wants to do good while keeping his ego in check. And he doesn't want to date just any stud who hits him up on OkCupid. "I'm looking for someone real, a deeper connection beyond the surface," he said. And yet there is that surface, a killer bod that comes from biking to and from work and going to the gym several times a week. The question is: What else to do with it? "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think having a better body would create more opportunities for me," he said as he finished his breakfast. But now that I have it, my first thought is, that's not why I want to be wanted. So I have to prove I'm more than a body. And perhaps ease up on the self-recrimination just a bit? "But with parents who are Catholic and Jewish, the guilt comes easily," he said. Love and a fulfilling career to pay the rent? A little harder to come by.