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With the gay pride season building to its climax, OutUK correspondent Ryan Faas
reflects on the latest gay must-have - a pride tattoo.
Like most outdoor summer gatherings pride parades and festivals are excellent times for those of us with ink to show it off and for anyone who likes admiring to tattoo art to see everything from small Chinese characters to intricate full body designs on people of all types and ages. | |
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At various pride events I've already attended this year, I noticed many more people
than ever before sporting some
type of pride symbol tattoo.
While I don't remember see any more than one rainbow triangle on one guy's left butt-cheek and a couple of double male symbols last year (both of which inspired me to get my now year-old stylized rainbow triangle on my left bicep), this year I spotted not only a greater number of pride markings but also a greater variety. |
 Ryan's own Pride tattoo. Photo by Ryan Faas. Tattoo by Lark St. Tattoo. |
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I met three men with variations of the double male symbol, my favourite being one
where one of the symbols was a very basic, block solid black and the other was
creatively loose and flowing (almost resembling a stylized lighting bolt) and
rainbow coloured. Both the design and the workmanship were incredible.
I also spotted a few people with tattoos of their zodiac sign that were stylized with rainbow colouring. I found this to be a nice blend of a meaningful personal symbol and gay pride in a single tattoo. For the same reason (and being a yoga student), I liked the look of the one woman who had a rainbow "om" symbol tattooed on the nape of her neck. Probably the most creative and impressive example of pride ink that I saw this year belongs to a friend of a friend. She was sporting a very detailed new tattoo on her left shoulder of a naked and anatomically correct female angel with rainbow coloured wings. Obviously, having a pride tattoo myself, I find it to be an incredible way to express your comfort and joy and (of course) pride in your sexuality and community. For me, contemplating the tattoo made me realize that I had truly found my way past any shame associated with being gay. It was one of the most liberating experiences of my life. However, like any tattoo, I don't suggest that it's right for everyone. Also, I think anyone thinking about a pride tattoo consider some way of personalizing the design. Every tattoo should be a personal expression and combining a rainbow theme with some other personal symbol can make a pride tattoo even more special to you as well as interesting to others. It serves as a way of expressing who you are in addition to being gay, a way of combining your sexuality with other unique characteristics of who you are as a person. As always, remember that tattoos are permanent, so if you are thinking about one, be it a pride or other symbol, take care in choosing one that is right for you and follow your artist's instruction on caring for it. | |
