I still remember the first time I saw a work by Tom of Finland. It was in 1985, the year I came out, in Buenos Aires, in winter. My queer activist group was paying a visit to the meeting of an allied group. Right there, on top pf the table where the debates were going on, a pile of American porn magazines. Mixed amongst the Honchos, there it was. Kake #18, Pants Down Saylor!
In those times my erections were legendary, and I got an instant one when I read the commix. I masturbated for it for months.
My first exposure to my attraction for Black men had taken place years before, through an erotic story I read, but back then I had not read or seen much about sex. . It was a straight scene, where a Black man fucked a White woman. Back then I did not even know I was attracted to men, I thought I reacted as anyone would react confronted to straight sex. In 1985 I had a better understanding of my sexuality, and my reaction to Take #18 was one of my many sexual epiphanies. It made me realize for the first time, it made me fully aware of what a powerful hook Black men had on me.
To me, Tom of Finland is religious art.