New Finland Stamps - Demeaning To Lgbts?

Although I collect only US stamps, I do enjoy reading articles and seeing the new world-wide issues on every month's issue of Linn's. I was somewhat surprised in scanning the Nov issue to note a souvenir sheet issued by Finland to honor an artist called Tom whose full name was Touko Laaksonen. Only one of the three stamps on the sheet was illustrated and portrayed a rather beefy man dressed in a police hat and smoking a cigarette. It was clearly meant to portray a gay man. After reading the description of the other two stamps on the sheet, I was glad that they hadn't included them. They are described as "b. Man's head between legs of another man ... c. Man's head and buttocks ..." I was quite shocked, but probably for reasons that might surprise some of you. It angered me that Finland would create such stamps rather than to portray the LGBT community as they really are - people who we live next door to, work and associate with, and that we call friends. In some small way, it made me proud as an American that the US appropriately honored Harvey Milk on a postage stamp not for being a homosexual but for working to improve his and our community and world. Maybe Finland's efforts were all in the name of art, but I find their stamp demeaning in its portrayal of LGBTs. Your thoughts?

Can you post an address so we can see the SS?

As one who is openly gay, I do not see anything demeaning in the Tom of Finland issue. The issue was to honor the artist Tom of Finland, not the LGTB community in Finland as a whole. As representations of Tom of Finland's catalogue of work, the stamps I feel are perfect illustrations of his eye not only for the erotic, but for the realistic and detailed depiction of the male human form.

well put

I don't think the LGTB community will be offended at all. But I am. I don't think art of this kind belongs on a stamp, and my opinion has nothing to do with gender identity. I could care less what people do in their bedrooms. But when they put what they do in their bedrooms on a stamp, that's going a bit too far, don't you think? (Apparently not, in many cases.)

Wait! I am trying to keep-up, I really am. When did LGBT become LGTB?

Always the last to know.

It's obviously not going too far in FINLAND. They made that choice.
I can't wait until some are used to send mail here, it will get big play in certain media outlets and then the screaming will start about not allowing mail franked with those stamps to enter the country. You know that this is coming to a media outlet near you at some point.

I won't post the images, as they may be offensive to some, but if you want the official website where one can view and/or buy the Finland souvenir sheet (and the three stamps contained therein) it is available at this link:

https://verkkokauppa.posti.fi/Publi...mcode=109095

More to the point, here's a Forbes news article on the subject:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidma...ve-got-male/

Included in the leading paragraphs is the quote:




And since it concludes with this quote, one must assume that the worldwide "popularity" of the subject is going to make it a sales leader:

I agree with DJ - they are artistic, perhaps controversial, but more than that they are brave and articulate. I think it speaks well of the country that they are talking about issues and ideas through their stamps.

I find them neither offensive nor artistic, just pointless. For decades now, countries have wracked their brains to find ways of devising attention-grabbing stamps - make them from gold foil, make them out of cork, use 3D images, make them smell of chocolate - you can even get stamps which are mini gramophone records. To me, none of this serves any practical purpose - it's just to get the stamps noticed, talked about and hopefully sold. Here we have (sigh) "controversial" stamps with a naked backside on them. Shock horror. But what's it got to do with serving the postal system? I just find all this scrabbling for sales a bit depressing.

Interesting read. I have only one question about the stamps. Are they self adhesive or do you have to lick them?

This topic was also well covered here:

https://goscf.com/t/39114#39114

agree with Ringo , the whole subject is pointless and the issue of the sheet is just worthless philatelic junk .Some details we don't need to know about others here.

Stamps celebrate art all the time, and have for decades. It's amazing how some will get selectively offended at a form of art. These stamps are no more offensive than those of nudes painted on the Sistine Chapel... unless of course your mindset is firmly planted in the stone age.

Where is all this outrage at the Goya nude issued by Spain? She shows everything to the world.