Mom updated tattoo for transgender son

Unconditional love is beautiful. It’s also a lot harder to find than people think. Often, our parents are the ones that show us unconditional love, but this isn’t always the case. For years, the queer community has faced ridicule by not only the outside world, but also our families. When families go beyond love and offer their children unconditional support, it strikes a nerve and tugs at our heartstrings.

Steve Peace, a Calgary-based tattoo artist, gave his wife, Lindsay, three tattoos representing their three children together more than a decade ago. Recently, Lindsay went in for a touch up of the tattoo, but one of the children needed a bit extra work.

The original portrait showed a girl wearing pigtails and a pink dress. It was created before Ace, now 15, had come out as trans.

“As our oldest child Ace is FTM transgender we need to update the tattoo to fully represent who he is in his happy new awesome life,” Steve wrote on Facebook. So, he went to work.

He completely changed the tattoo, removing the dress, pigtails and purple bow and replacing it with a shirt, khaki shorts, and a slingshot to better represent his son.

Once the new portrait was complete, Steve and Lindsay surprised Ace with the fresh ink. The teen, who came out to his family about a year ago, was over the moon.

“It made me really happy. I didn’t realize how much she believed me. It finally fits,” Ace said.

Watch the full video below.