Thursday 30 June 2022 06:24 PM Night club ban PNG woman with face tattoo in Brisbane: The Project trends now
A young woman who was refused entry to a nightclub because of her cultural face tattoos says having her ink is her 'human right'.
Moale James, 23, who has Papua New Guinean heritage, was celebrating her partner's birthday by heading out to Brisbane's nightclub precinct in Fortitude Valley on Sunday morning.
But she soon found herself turned away from popular Latin American club Hey Chica! after security guards took issue with her traditional tattoos.
Ms James later took to Facebook to slam the 'racist and discriminatory' treatment she received.
Now, speaking to The Project, she explained why her markings are so important to her.
'There are so many groups of diverse people here that I live with and a very big Pacific Islander population in Queensland, and there's a lot of us that are wanting to practice culture, including marking our skin.
'We need to be reviewing policies and legislation that are not reflective of our community. We shouldn't have to assimilate, this is our culture and we should be allowed to practice it freely.
'It's a human right to do that so the laws that we live in should also reflect that, and they should reflect the community.'
Ms James had got the traditional tattoo (pictured) to celebrate her Papua New Guinean heritage
Speaking to The Project (hosts Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris pictured), the clubber explained why her markings are so important to her
Ms James says she 'wants to make some noise' for people who want to represent their cultural heritage.
'We went across the road to a different venue and the security guard there, all my friends said, are you going to let her in? Like look at her license, look at her.
'She looked at me and she said, "why wouldn't I let you in? We actually aren't allowed to discriminate and categorize you based on obviously what our cultural marks".
'And so we went and we spent the rest of the night in that venue.
'Now we're here trying to make some noise for anyone else that might proudly wear the marks of their ancestors too, change the legislation and liquor acts that might try to prevent us from practicing our culture.'
Moale James (pictured), 23, was denied entry to Hey Chica! for her traditional face tattoos, which she has to honour her Papua New Guinean heritage
Ms James says she 'wants to make some noise' for people who want to represent their cultural heritage
On the Hey Chica! website,
