Living Colour—Fighting stigma, fundraising for Bruce house, and supporting the community.

“We wanted to do something different, we wanted to be more community involved,” explains Mat Adams, who offers body piercings at Living Colour, “if there are people in this city who still stigmatize, or turn down HIV-positive clients, let’s shame them a little bit. We not only serve that community; we support them by doing a fundraiser.”

Sadly, stigma is still a fact of life for people living with HIV.  It can impact all aspects of life, including the choice to get a tattoo or piercing.  This is common enough to have made the news in Scotland.  Canada is no exception, “There is a lot of stigma regarding Hep-C and HIV in the tattoo and body modification world, partially because of a lack of education, a lack of understanding, and a lot of outdated information.  [Living Colour] is an open and inclusive shop, we don’t want anybody to worry that they will be turned away because they are living with HIV,” explains Mat, “It is hard for us to believe that people would still turn other people away because of [HIV status].  We don’t even ask; we don’t need to know.”

All tattoo artists and piercers follow universal precautions—best practices established by health care professionals and used in every setting from medical clinics to nursing homes. These practices protect both professionals and their clients.  PEP—post-exposure-prophylaxis—is available from emergency rooms in the extremely rare case of an accidental exposure in what is known as a “stick and poke” accident.

In Mat’s words, “When you understand how it [HIV transmission] works… what PEP is… it really doesn’t make sense to still have that mentally from the 90’s”.

In fact 1 in 5 people living with HIV in Ontario are unaware of their status, so rejecting clients based on HIV status is not only unnecessary; it is a placebo which does nothing to protect the tattoo artist but does harm the clients they turn away.  “I wouldn’t say that I’ve had anybody expressly say that they had a negative experience, but I can say from the nervousness and the shakiness from clients that have come in that they may have had negative experiences before.”

Founded in 1991 by tattoo artist Kathy McGuire, Living Colour is no stranger to community support. “The shop ran the LGBTQ2+ clothing swap for Pride the year I was hired.  They’ve always had a different feel, I think partially because it is owned by a woman [in a male-dominated industry]. I only know a handful of LGBTQ2+ tattoo artists.”

Living Colour staff plan to build on the success of this event, supporting a few causes each year.  Wonderful people!  Please keep an eye on their Facebook page for future events.