Finland Has Gay Bondage Postal Stamps Now And They're Quite The Thing

They're being released later this year, to general awe.

Come September, if you want to send a letter in Finland, you can use a stamp that looks like this.

Itella

This image is the work of Tom of Finland– or Touko Laaksonen, a Finnish artist. He died in 1991 but left behind 3,500 artworks, a couple of which have been selected for the collections later in the year.

Itella, the Finnish postal service, says: “His emphatically masculine homoerotic drawings have attained iconic status in their genre and had an influence on, for instance, pop culture and fashion. In his works, Tom of Finland utilized the self-irony and humor typical of subcultures.”

The developmental director of Itella says: "We wanted to live in the year 2014."

Itella

There's kind of a surprising angle to this.

Itella

Besides the one about Finland having gay bondage postal stamps.

Because they form a slightly jarring contrast with the other stamps being released later this year.

Itella

Like these watercolours.

And these traditional Christmas designs.

Itella

Itella

But anyway, in a country where same-sex marriage has yet to be legalised and there are limited adoption rights, you'd have to say this is pretty cool.

Itella