An outspoken anti-gay Russian lawmaker is outraged that the Russian postal service has been allowing mail bearing Finnish stamps commemorating gay erotic artist Tom of Finland to be delivered and has declared them ‘gay propaganda’ in breach of Russia’s censorship laws.

St Peters lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, the co-author of his city’s ban on so-called ‘gay propaganda,’ one of the first such regional laws in Russia, wants Russia’s postal service to return-to-sender any mail bearing the stamps for breaching national laws banning positive depictions of LGBTI people in the public sphere.

The stamps were released by Finland’s national postal service in September to commemorate Finnish erotic artist Touko Laaksonen, AKA Tom of Finland, and have been the biggest selling stamps in Finland’s history – being pre-ordered by people in 178 countries.

There were reportedly lines around the block to buy them when they first went on sale in Finland and tens of thousands were pre-ordered around the world.

Finnish news agency Yle Uutiset sent mail bearing the stamps to its corespondents in Russia in September after the stamps were released and they were successfully delivered to addresses in Moscow.

But Milonov now wants the stamps banned in Russia after saying he was warned about them by sympathizers in Finland.

‘They are basically elements of homosexual propaganda, which is banned in our country,’ Milonov told the TASS news agency.

‘I ask the leadership of Russian Post to pay close attention to this request. In addition, I urge the Finns themselves, our close neighbors, to refrain from using these stamps when sending letters to Russia.’

St Petersburg was one of the first Russian regions to pass a ban on so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’ which ultimately lead to the Russian Government passing a similar national ban.

Milonov is one of the most outspoken anti-gay politicians in Russia and stormed an art gallery in St Petersburg with other anti-gay activists that was holding a launch event for an LGBTI themed art event on 18 September this year.

The activists spray painted the building’s entrance and released noxious gases though it was unclear if Milonov was himself involved in those particular actions.