Altadena’s tattoo parlor, burning to ashes at Eton Fire in January, welcomes members of the LGBTQ+ community, the majority of its business model, and most of its business model.
“It was the most incredibly devastating thing I’ve ever felt,” said Isabella Livingston, owner of June Bug Tattoo Parlor, of the fire. “I sobbed for days. It made me physically sick.”
Today, the remains of her shop sit in a pile of many burnt debris off the coast of North Fair Oaks Avenue. When she left her job that night on January 7th, Livingston said she realized she couldn’t save anything. The business she invested in savings for her life was gone within hours.
What was particularly heartbreaking was her belief that she might lose contact with dozens of clients within the queer and trans community, including some of her tattoo artists. So she quickly went looking for a new space and within a few weeks she found it.
The new June bug tattoo parlor is located at the former boutique store at 4315 Eagle Rock Blvd., a few miles from where the fire destroyed the old one. Livingston said reopening would not immediately bring back her losses. It was also about recreating the safe spaces her parlor represented.
“I felt absolutely responsible for our clients, our queer community and all of our people who were truly amazing clients,” she said.
June Bug’s approach has always been to provide marginalized members of the community with a safe and secure space to receive tattoos from trained professional artists. We welcome women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and others who listen in a loud stereotypical voice or are blackmailed or threatened by a toxic masculine or judged parlor. Her needle tools are quiet. There are service dogs to calm people’s nerves, and the interior design motifs are designed to be peaceful and inclusive.
“I just heard the story of how this happened to me and said, ‘Oh, I can’t get tattoos anymore,'” she said of some of her strange clients and trans clients and their experiences in traditional tattoo parlors. “They can tell them they are not welcome based on their attitude.”
At her recent promotional event at her new Eagle Rock location, over 100 clients received special tattoos to commemorate the fire, giving them a quiet place to heal and reflect the rebuilding process. All of the June bug artists have created unique designs specifically for these requests, and many clients are currently offering new tattoos to commemorate Pride Month.
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