Hackney is a place for everyone and we strive to uphold that.”Ĭurtis told BuzzFeed News he was turned away minutes after he had disclosed his HIV status in the customer information questionnaire – and minutes before the work was to begin. We will write to this business and, if discrimination is found to have taken place, we will take action. “Tattoo parlours should have universal safety precautions in place to protect all their customers and staff from communicable diseases. We expect all businesses in the borough to adhere to the Equality Act and condemn any business which discriminates on the basis of disability. Hackney councillor Carole Williams, the cabinet member with responsibilities for equalities said: “Refusing to offer services to a person living with HIV is illegal under the Equality Act, and discrimination of this sort should be reported to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. I don’t feel like a second-class citizen every day.” Compounding this, he said, was the fact that the tattooist “wasn’t even willing to face me personally and to say they weren’t able to do the work”.Ĭurtis has since made a formal complaint to the licensing department of the local council and will also be complaining to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the regulatory body responsible for enforcing the Equality Act. “I was really shocked and had an empty feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Refusing to serve a customer on the grounds that they have HIV also contravenes the Equality Act 2010, as the condition is classified as a disability.īritain's largest HIV charity criticised Sang Bleu – founded by A-list tattooist Maxime Plescia-Buchi as part of a media and design agency that has worked with Vogue and Balenciaga – for subjecting Curtis to "stigma and discrimination".Īlthough Curtis said he had suffered discrimination for his sexuality before, he said this was the first time he had been denied a service because of his medical condition. There is no risk involved in tattooing someone with HIV under the standard hygiene measures parlours use with all customers. Rob Curtis, 36, told BuzzFeed News that he had been informed by the receptionist at Sang Bleu, in Dalston, east London, that the tattooist, Malvina Wisniewska, would not carry out the agreed £1,000 design because “she just doesn’t feel comfortable” tattooing someone with HIV. A tattoo artist at a famous London studio run by Kanye West's tattooist refused to work on a customer because he is HIV-positive.