In Los Angeles, many gang members have elaborate tattoos that show their gang affiliation. The tattoos can’t be removed, except with surgery, which evokes the permanent, lifelong allegiance that gangs demand. However, Father Gregory Boyle’s nonprofit, Homeboy Industries, offers tattoo removal surgeries. Tattoos, then, symbolize the crimes that Boyle’s associates have committed—crimes that supposedly render them unlovable and irredeemable. However, Boyle removing the tattoos of ex-gang members makes one of Boyle’s most important points: no crime is so great that it can’t be forgiven. Thus tattoo removal dovetails with Boyle’s religious message: just as tattoos that were thought to be permanent can be removed, even the most serious crimes can be forgiven, and even the most hardened criminals are entitled to God’s love.
Tattoos Symbol Timeline in Tattoos on the Heart
