“Experiencing discrimination getting a tattoo empowered me to speak up”

After securing and booking a tattoo, paying a deposit and approving the tattoo artwork, I was sent a disclaimer form on the evening before the tattoo day. I filled in the form fully and accurate. When asking about health, I ticked the HIV Positive box and didn’t think anything of it. I had previously got a piercing from a studio that asked the same questions and nothing was commented on or raised. On the morning of the tattoo, my tattoo artist called me asking if I had ticked the box by accident. I took this call in the middle of a busy restaurant, explaining to the artist that I was undetectable and it didn’t pose any risk to them. She still refused to take my booking, saying the risk was still too great. She offered me a refund of my deposit and just said sorry and hung up.

At first, I was a bit shocked and dazed as to what had happened. I went home, and this feeling soon changed to anger and resentment as to how someone could be so ignorant. I went to other people living HIV, to see if they have experienced the same thing and not a single person had and everyone was appalled with this behaviour. My partner’s mother took it on herself to find me an accepting tattoo parlour who didn’t see me having HIV, as being an issue.

If anything, this has made me feel more empowered and passionate about speaking up about HIV and educating where possible.

National AIDS Trust’s discrimination service provided personalised and informative advice to me. I didn’t know where to begin to raise a grievance or what the correct terminology was. Without this informative advice, I feel that the individual involved would still remain uneducated and continue to discriminate.

If you are in this situation, you may at first feel anxious and angry about talking about your status. But don’t let any stigma you may face play negatively on your mind or devalue your self worth. Use any opportunity you can to positively educate and inform!