Meet the man beside Tom of Finland – Durk Dehner, President and Cofounder of Tom of Finland Foundation

JIM WIGLER, Durk and Tom, c. 1984

Tom of Finland: for many of us fetishists, these three words conjure up many different feelings, moods, and fantasies. His art is now such an integral thread of Gay (and pop) culture that even if you’re a casual fetishist, the name Tom of Finland is instantly recognisable.

Tom of Finland was the genius Finnish artist that created the countless masterpieces of Gay erotic we know and love, but no less fascinating a character is the man who, in his role as muse, lover, and business partner, has worked tirelessly over many decades to keep Tom’s legacy alive. Durk Dehner is the President and Cofounder of Tom of Finland Foundation, and I recently had the great privilege and joy to talk with him for an in-depth and quite personal interview for this issue.

KEN HAAK, Durk, 1976

Paul Lthr: Hi Durk! Great to speak to you again! It really seems like an eternity has passed since we met at Folsom Europe in 2018 after my Classic Meets Fetish performance! Tom of Finland is such a celebrated figure in our community, of course, but I thought it would be wonderful for our readers to get to know you in more detail as well. Let’s start off this conversation with your beginnings. What was your life and upbringing like growing up, and what led you to this current path that you have been on for many years now?

Durk Dehner: Well, I was born in Alberta, Canada, and grew up in nature: open air, Rocky Mountains. I was quite the wild child, in that I went off on adventures a lot on my own and with friends, camping out in the mountains. I really had a wonderful childhood. Once my parents realised I was independent and could take care of myself, they wisely didn’t hold me back and allowed me to be free, so I did a lot of exploring.

DURK DEHNER, Self-portrait, 1984

PL: When did you discover your own sexuality? And when did you first get into fetish/gear/kink?

DD: I was quite precocious in some ways. While I was a shy student at school, outside of school I was quite adventuresome and I explored my sexuality pretty early on with like-minded friends of my age at around age 9 or 10. At 11, I had my first consensual sexual encounter with an 18-year-old (for the record, I pursued him, not the other way round). While this may perhaps raise eyebrows nowadays, I think historically it is something that many gay men went through in the past when they were discovering their own sexuality. Certainly, I know quite a few friends who have had similar experiences at a young age.
Around the time I reached puberty my role models were motorcycle bikers. I remember hanging out at the local motorcycle shop in my neighbourhood, and there began my fantasies about becoming the kind of fellow I would grow up to be – quite similar to Tom who was inspired by Marlon Brando in his black leather jacket.

So, yes, all the triggers for my fetishes were there when I was really young, basically from the age of 5 onwards. For example, I would steal boots off the steps of neighbours’ houses – these would be work boots, engineer boots – and I would take them into the woods with me, and the smell of the inside of the boots would arouse me intensely. Besides, even earlier than that, I would lay out my dad’s rubber raincoats and hip boots, and I would take all my clothes off and roll around in these garments. I didn’t even know why I was doing it, only that these urges were very instinctive; I just knew that it felt good. I was never reprimanded nor caught, and there was never any negative attachment to any of my activities, so I just pursued them and let them grow.

The fetish really was a part of me, not a separate entity. It was something I naturally discovered on my own, and not something that someone else introduced me to, so the progression was all very organic.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY PAUL LTHR

Published: 10th July 2022

Categorised in: News