He continued: ‘Following the national release of the movie The Wild One with Marlon Brando the original motorcycle film, it seemed to crystallize or release, the obscure and long-hidden feelings of many homosexuals.’ Steward said: ‘One change, however, came about in the homosexual attitude towards tattoos around 1954.’ Steward published his thoughts on gay men getting tattoos in his 1990 book Bad Boys & Tough Tattoos: A Social History of the Tattoo with Gangs, Sailors, and Street-Corner Punks. He was also the official tattoo artist for the motorcycle club, the Hells Angels in Oakland, California.
Steward was born in 1909 and led many varied roles in life, including a professor at a Roman Catholic university and an author of gay pulp fiction. These days, tattoos and LGBTI culture go hand in hand and it’s a trend that’s on the rise.īut where did it all begin and what do these hidden meanings signify? ‘Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos’Īccording to famous gay tattooist Samuel Steward (also known as Phil Sparrow), the gay community in particular really began embracing tattoos in the 1950s.
In a time when it was illegal to be out and proud in Western culture, many LGBTI people got tattoos to convey secret messages or as an act of defiance to authority. The LGBTI community has a long and varied history with tattoos.
