HIV-positive man refused piercing

A HIV-positive Cranbourne man says he was left feeling “discriminated against” after
being turned away from a piercing studio.

John (surname withheld) said a piercer at Divine Results Beauty Clinic in Cranbourne told him she could not go ahead with his requested nipple piercing because the wound wouldn’t heal properly.

He believes he was refused the piercing because he declared his HIV status.

“I’ve ticked [the form] to be honest and she said, ‘Because of what you’ve written on the form, we can’t go any further’,” John said.

“I asked why, and she said, ‘Because you will not heal’. I told her I wasn’t a hemophiliac ­— what do you mean I won’t heal?”

John said he then went to a tattooist who pierced his nipple.

“I felt so small,” he said. “If I was to lie on that form, she would have done my piercing. I didn’t even fill out a form up the road.”

Clinic owner Julie Byers said there had been “a crossed line of communication”.

“The health chart we get everyone to fill out, legally we only have to get proof of ID, but I always check if they have diabetes, are on blood thinners, [have] AIDS, anything like that, because piercings won’t heal as well as people without any afflicted diseases,” she told the Star Observer.

“I always advise not to get it done, but of course we can never say, ‘No we can’t do it’.
“If he feels that, we’re deeply sorry … he’s more than welcome to come back and we’ll pierce it for him, but he has to be aware that with AIDS there is a slower healing time.”

Byers rejected any suggestion that the clinic or piercer had a fear of transmission.
“No, not at all, I have friends with AIDS, and they’ve had piercings, but again, normally [piercing] takes four to six months to heal, theirs has taken a year to heal.”

Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre medical services clinical director Dr B K Tee said when a HIV-positive person’s CD4 cells were low — usually a count under 200 — there could be issues with wounds healing.

“I do not expect a layperson to have enough clinical knowledge of the HIV positive client’s health condition to make a clinical judgement,” he said.

“With medical knowledge I do not think an HIV positive person should avoid piercings provided his/her immune system isn’t too low and that he/she takes the necessary precautions to avoid infections.”

Dr Tee said the beauty clinic should consider reviewing its policy to avoid misunderstanding by giving HIV-positive people a chance to show a letter from their doctor giving them the go-ahead to safely have a piercing.

Victorian AIDS Council executive director Matt Dixon said the incident shows tattooists and body piercers should get to grips about their obligations to clients.

PLWHA Victoria president Paul Kidd it’s illegal for tattooists or body piercers to refuse service to people with HIV and said situations like this can make people living with HIV fear disclosing their status.

“It’s the reason HIV positive people are reluctant to disclose their status when assumptions are made which are often plain wrong,” he said.