Happy 106th Birthday to Tom of Finland: How Touko Laaksonen Redefined Gay Desire Forever
May 8 marks the birthday of one of the most influential LGBTQ+ artists in modern history
©Tom of Finland Foundation. On the left is a drawing by Tom of Finland from Kaarina's collections. On the right is Touko Laaksonen 1984.
Today, May 8, the queer world celebrates the legacy of Touko Laaksonen — better known globally as Tom of Finland— who was born on this day in 1920.
And if he were alive today, the legendary Finnish artist would be turning 106 years old.
Calendar by Peachy Kings
More than just an illustrator, Tom of Finland became a cultural revolution. His drawings did not simply depict gay men — they completely transformed how queer masculinity was seen, desired, and celebrated across the world.
At a time when homosexuality was criminalized, censored, and pushed underground, Tom of Finland dared to imagine something radical:
“I wanted my drawings to show Gay men being happy and positive about who they were...”
Gay men as powerful. Gay men as confident. Gay men as unapologetically desirable.
And that vision changed everything.
The man who turned queer desire into art history
Long before mainstream media embraced LGBTQ+ visibility, Tom of Finland was already sketching a future where queer men existed freely, proudly, and sexually liberated.
His hypermasculine characters — leather bikers, sailors, policemen, soldiers, lumberjacks, mechanics — became iconic symbols of queer identity throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
All images belong to ©Tom of Finland Foundation.Every line carried intention. Every pose challenged shame.
Every drawing pushed back against homophobia.
What made his work revolutionary was not only the eroticism, but the joy behind it.
His men smiled. They flirted. They dominated space confidently. In a world that often portrayed queer people through tragedy or secrecy, Tom of Finland illustrated pleasure, freedom, and pride.
His influence expanded far beyond underground queer publications.
Official teaser trailer of the Tom of Finland movie by Dome Karukoski. A story of Touko Laaksonen, the artist known as Tom of Finland. 2017.The visual codes he created inspired generations of artists, photographers, designers, filmmakers, and musicians. His aesthetic helped shape queer nightlife culture, leather communities, fashion editorials, and pop culture itself.
The fingerprints of Tom of Finland can still be seen everywhere today — from fetish fashion runways to Pride campaigns, editorial photography, drag culture, and modern queer cinema.
Even legendary acts like Freddie Mercury and Village People famously echoed the hypermasculine visual universe that Tom created decades earlier.
From underground censorship to global queer icon
Tom of Finland built an international reputation through his unmistakable homoerotic art, particularly in queer communities across New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
What once circulated secretly between gay men eventually entered museums, galleries, universities, and global cultural institutions.
Today, his artistic legacy is preserved through theTom of Finland Foundation, headquartered in his former home in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. “In 1984, the nonprofit Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) was established by Durk Dehner and his friend Tom. As Tom had established worldwide recognition as the master of homoerotic art, the Foundation’s original purpose was to preserve his vast catalog of work.” tomoffinland.org
©Tom of Finland Foundation.
The foundation continues protecting queer art, supporting LGBTQ+ artists, and ensuring that future generations understand the historical importance of erotic queer expression.
Even in 2026, Tom of Finland’s influence remains impossible to ignore. At this year’s Met Gala 2026 in New York City, actor Luke Evans turned heads with a look directly inspired by the iconic visual language of Tom of Finland.
Luke Evans attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
The theme, “Costume Art,” explored the body as artistic expression — making references to nudity, identity, and fashion as living artwork almost inevitable.
And few artists have influenced queer visual identity more profoundly than Tom of Finland.
His homoerotic illustrations transformed authority figures — policemen, sailors, construction workers, military men — into objects of queer desire while simultaneously reclaiming symbols of power that historically excluded LGBTQ+ people.
That visual rebellion continues to inspire fashion, nightlife, and queer aesthetics today.
Helsinki celebrates the legend at 106
Back home in Helsinki, Tom of Finland’s birthday continues to be celebrated with events honoring his life and impact on queer culture.
One of the highlights this year includes the “Celebrate 106th Birthday of Tom of Finland” gathering at Hugo's Bar on May 8, hosted by MSC Finland. Guests are encouraged to wear fetish gear, continuing the playful and liberated spirit that Tom championed throughout his life.
Meanwhile, anticipation is already building for Tom of Finland the Musical, premiering September 3, 2026, at Verkatehdas -The entire production will be subtitled in English. Writer-Director Tuomas Parkkinen.
TOM OF FINLAND ® Tom of Finland Foundation, Inc.
More than three decades after his death, Finland and the rest of the world still proudly embraces one of its most internationally influential queer artists.
“Tom of Finland taught the world that masculinity and homosexuality are not opposites.”
Touko Laaksonen passed away on November 7, 1991, at the age of 71. But Tom of Finland never really disappeared.
Image Credit: Lehtikuva. In 2020, Tom of Finland received a commemorative plaque in front of his former home in Helsinki, Finland, on the centenary of his birth.
His work continues living through younger queer generations discovering his art online, through LGBTQ+ archives, Pride culture, contemporary fashion, and digital communities around the world.
For many queer people today, his drawings still feel radical.
Not because they are provocative — but because they remain deeply liberating.
He taught generations that queer identity could be powerful instead of hidden. Masculine instead of stereotyped. Joyful instead of ashamed.
And perhaps that is why his work still resonates so strongly in 2026.
Because freedom never goes out of style.
The legacy lives on
Picture from Tom of Finland Store
At 106 years old today, Tom of Finland remains one of the greatest visual innovators of the 20th century — and one of the most important queer artists of all time.
His art changed the way the world sees gay men. His courage changed queer visual culture forever. And his legacy continues inspiring future LGBTQ+ artists who refuse to shrink themselves for anyone.
New generations are still discovering him.
Still studying him.
Still celebrating him.
And somewhere tonight, in queer bars, galleries, parties, and digital spaces around the world, people will raise a glass to the artist who dared to draw freedom into existence.
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