We hear about the ins and outs of tattooing from famous scene faces
Tattoos are inescapable at the moment, seen everywhere from Dalston club smoking areas to divisive E4 TV series, all the way to your Mum’s pilates class. In fact, it’s thought that over a quarter of men & women aged between 16 and 44 have gone under the needle at some point or other.
Everyone’s got a different reason for getting them, no less for queer people. For many, it’s a celebration of their identity or struggles, but for others, there are far less significance-laden reasoning. We got four queer people to tell us about their ink.
Scott Humphreys
I first started getting tattooed when I was 14. I asked my mum for one on my birthday in Mallorca and, being the super cool mum she is, she let me! However, I did just flick through a book and pick one, which came out looking like some Celtic Kappa logo (face palm)! I would recommend waiting a little later in life than I did.
In regards to my tattoos being queer, that was never my criteria or the direction I wanted to go in. Instead, I wanted to play with colour and use a more feminine pallet to make a soft yet still bold statement.
To be honest they don’t really have any meaning, but they do have a purpose. When I was 18 months old, I was badly burnt by boiling water covering my arms and the top half of my body with scars, so when I got to 18, I found my local tattoo shop down in Kent, where I met Calypso Saga-Moore, who has been responsible for all my work since the shameful slag tag. I had no idea you could tattoo over scars and, as she has experience with tattooing over scars, my body was in her hands and she made something beautiful out of a bad situation.
My end goal is to have a full body suit, so once my back piece is all coloured-in, I’m straight onto my legs, which will be the pieces that actually mean something and reflect all the important people in my life. I can’t wait!
Virginia Wright
I tend to over think things, so I started to get tattoos as a way of forcing myself to jump into something and not over think it. I wanted something that not only represented my heritage, but also showed the love I have for my mother. She is the most important person in my life. She wasn’t happy about the tattoo at first…but loves it now.
The script going from behind my ear down to my heart is written in Lao. My mom is from Laos. Her and I used to fight a lot when I was younger. We’d be yelling at each other back and forth. She’d finally say “DO YOU KNOW WHAT!?” and I’d yell back “WHAT!?”. She’d respond saying “I love you more than you can imagine.” After she’d say that, I’d feel horrible and stop fighting with her. The script translates to “Do you know what? I love you more than you can imagine.”
The Virginia tattoo is way more straightforward. I’m from Virginia and my drag name is Virginia. With drag, I try and experiment with different looks. Some of which completely change me to the point of not being able to recognise that it’s me. My tattoos help identify me. My Virginia tattoo is also great branding! Perfect for posing!
I’m sure I’ll get more. As soon as the inspiration hits me and that paycheck hits my bank account.
Daniel Limon
Tattoo Artist based in Phoenix
I had the privilege of doing this tattoo on a good friend of mine. He is one of those friends who always have great creative ideas and this was one of them. He came to me asking for a pin-up of a guy. My first question was, can it have a little kink? He, of course, said yes! When designing the tattoo, I took reference from two of my favorite illustrators, Tom of Finland and Jonny Willy. Two artists that were way ahead of their time
The meaning behind the artwork is to play with gender roles and to express a sense of androgyny, blurring the line between feminine and masculine. Pin-up girls are a very common motif in tattooing. Being able to do a man as a pin up was refreshing for me. My goal was to try to create beauty with the mixture of the masculine muscle with the high heal leather boots and smoky eye.
As a gay tattoo artist it’s been a great opportunity to bring in gay references and concepts into tattooing. The magic happens with the perfect combination of client, artist, and artwork.
Duncan Shrewsbury
It wasn’t until I was in my final year of medical school that I came out. That was a time of immense personal growth and development, in which I developed a new sense of confidence in myself – just as I am. That isn’t to say I have somehow managed to shed all my hang-ups…goodness no! But I felt I no longer needed to feel apologetic for who I am. That was when I got my first tattoo: a tribal dragon on my back. Not visible, and not overly imaginative either, but it was a start. I am now working as a university lecturer and a doctor, completing my training to be a GP, and now have a growing number of tattoos creeping down my arms, below the ‘bare below the elbow’ line that characterises healthcare professionals’ work attire.
Patients seem to be either completely unfazed or uninterested in my tattoos. Some seem to quite like them. I have never had a patient appear uncomfortable, or say anything negative about them. I think they see beyond it: I introduce myself by my first name, and spend a lot of time listening to them, building trust. I am a different doctor, but for lots of very good reasons. Tattoos make no difference to whether I can do that well or not, and have no bearing on my medical knowledge. One regular patient even calls me an ‘edgy GP’. I guess the piercings and tattoos can help break down some of those antiquated images of deference that can create barriers in consultations. Most of my colleagues seem to share this view too, and I don’t shy away from discussing it with people who don’t: if I were to avoid getting visible tattoos just because of a prejudicial view (which can be borne out in uniform policies in some instances) then we are responsible for promoting and propagating prejudice. I shall continue to do my part by pushing at those boundaries with my self-affirmations.
