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A Kentucky tattoo shop is stepping up to do its part to help stop the spread of hatred in the country. Gallery X Collective in Murray, Kentucky announced that two artists, Jeremiah Swift and Ryun King, are offering free appointments and free cover-ups of tattoos that have gang or hate symbolism.
Swift and King decided to offer the free cover-ups in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The tattoos have ranged from swastikas to Confederate flags, and those who wanted the cover-ups were sharing remorse for their poor decisions when they were younger including one man who would not take off his shirt in front of his kids out of embarrassment.
“It’s definitely a long overdue change,” King said, via CNN.com. “Having anything hate-related is completely unacceptable. A lot of people when they were younger just didn’t know any better and were left with mistakes on their bodies. We just want to make sure everybody has a chance to change.
“One of the people we got was a man with both of his forearms completely covered in hate symbols, absolutely everywhere. How is this man going to interact with society with the mistakes he made 10, 15, 20 years ago? We also got a guy with a giant swastika who said he has never taken his shirt off in front of his kids. I like seeing that. I like seeing people want to change themselves for the better. That swells me full of emotions.”
There is one catch, however. People who are getting cover-ups will leave the design of their new tattoo up to their artists.
The tattoo parlor shared its promotion on social media.
“Gallery X Art Collective would like to extend the offer to change your future in becoming a better person. If it is hate-related, in any way, we will schedule you a day to come get it cover-up for free, at the artists choosing. There will be options for ideas but all designs and ideas will be up to Jeremiah, or Ryun King whichever one is doing your tattoo,” the post read.
One of the cover-ups turned a Confederate flag into Pickle Rick from Rick and Morty.
I think we can all agree that the world is a better place with less hate and more Adult Swim.
