This Mum Just Updated Her Tattoo Of Her Trans Child

As body art goes, this is pretty heartwarming

Almost ten years ago, Lindsay Peace had three tattoos inked on her arm represent her children: two boys, in shorts and t-shirts, and one girl, with pigtails and a pale pink dress. It wasn't a big deal - she had tattoos before, and her husband, Steve, is a tattoo artist - but over the last 12 months, one of the images has been causing problems.

Because last NYE, one of their children - Ace - came out as transgender.

'I felt kind of different from everyone else,' said Ace, 15, who attends Crescent Heights High School in Calgary, Canada. 'I just didn’t get it, like what exactly was different about me. I just thought I was weird, but nothing that put me out of place or anything.'

His parents supported his transition - they'd previously thought he might be gay, or bisexual - and his brothers weren't phased either. 'We’re just lucky to live where we did,' says Steve. 'I think it’d be tough if we lived in a different country, or even the States... Parents need to really support their kids in these situations.'

But the tattoo still caused problems. 'People would say, ‘Oh, who is on your arm?... We were on holidays, and people would say, “Is that your kids?” And here I am with three boys, and very clearly a little girl was on my arm,' explains Lindsay.

'We need[ed] to update the tattoo to fully represent who he is in his happy new awesome life,' she added.

And while Ace had once asked his mum to remove the inking altogether, she didn't want to do that. After all, she still had a child - the illustration just needed a bit of a tweak to reflect his identity. So Steve thought about it for a while, before amending the tattoo to show Ace with short hair, shorts, and a miniature slingshot.

'It made me really happy because I didn’t realize how much [my mother] believed me,' says Ace of the new design. 'It finally fits.'

'As parents, you say, ‘Whatever makes you happy',' explains Steve of his son. 'We’ve seen him become happier and happier as time goes on, which makes us happy.'