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Calgary Artist Updates His Wife's Tattoo For A More Accurate Image Of Their Son

Beautiful!

Lindsay Peace has gorgeous tattoos of all three of her kids: Ace, Hamish and Elliot.

But Ace's tattoo needed a bit of an update. The original image showed Ace wearing a pink dress with bows and pigtails. But it's not quite the right permanent image for Ace, who is a transgender teen.

Lindsay considered just removing the tattoo, but the original artist — her husband and Ace's dad, Steve — suggested they try changing it.

The tattoo of Ace, before and after. (Photo: Immaculate Concept Tattoo/Facebook)

The new, reworked tattoo swaps Ace's dress for a pair of shorts and and a T-shirt. A purple flower on the collar of the dress in the original tattoo has turned into a slingshot.

"We just winged it," Steve said, in an interview with The Huffington Post Alberta. "Luckily it worked!"

The tattoo's transformation was kept as a surprise for Ace, 15, who was super excited when it was revealed, said his parents.

"He loved it. Every step we have in this journey of ours he just gets happier and happier."

'You have to support your kids'

The couple decided to share it on the Facebook page of Immaculate Concept Tattoo, where Steve works.

The reaction has been "100 per cent positive," said Steve. "I guess there are people out there that have negative opinions, but thankfully they're keeping it to themselves."

One Facebook commenter wrote "That's so rad! My oldest is also FTM Transgender. This is such a great post, so inclusive and accepting!"

"He loved it. Every step we have in this journey of ours he just gets happier and happier."

Steve said that while it can be tough be the parent of a transgender kid, the key to his and Lindsay's parenting is offering as much support as possible.

"You have to support your kids. I mean, it's tough when you hear that as a parent, but you have to be strong for your kids. You have to come to terms with it yourself, on your own time, and just have to offer 100 per cent support."

Also on HuffPost:

A person's identity is their own to decide

What to do if your friend has come out as transgender

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