Petition Calls For A Stop To The Tom of Finland Stamp

The recent decision by the Finland postal service Itella to roll out a series of stamps to commemorate the work of artist Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, is facing some opposition in the form of a petition calling for a halt to the soon-to-be miniature, lickable, homoerotic art. Jezebel reports.

A petition with 2,386 signatures on online petition site addressit.com is demanding that Finnish postal service Itella cease plans to publish the stamps.

NO Tom of Finland-stamps to Finland!
We, the signed, demand that Itella won't publish the planned homoerotic stamp set. Itella plans to publish a stamp to honour artist and gay icon Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991). The sexual orientation of the men in the images don't leave room for any interpretation.

In the future we want Itella to think more carefully how to select themes that all Finns can be proud of. At the same time we want to thank them for all the beautiful stamps, we have been proud to use on our mail.

Finland plans to release the stamps this fall. In a statement by Itella Posti Oy, the stamps will showcase artwork by the "confident and proud homoeroticism" of Tom of Finland, born Touko Laaksonen, known for his fetish art.

Laaksonen died in 1991 at the age of 71 but created over 3,5000 illustrations in 40 years. Itella says the artist is "beyond question the most influential creator of gay pornographic illustration."??

"His emphatically masculine homoerotic drawings have attained iconic status in their genre and had an influence on, for instance, pop culture and fashion," the site reads. "In his works, Tom of Finland utilized the self-irony and humor typical of subcultures... The drawings on the stamp sheet represent strong and confident male figures typical of their designer."??

The stamps will be released around the same time as an exhibition of Laaksonen's work at Finland's Postal Museum.