A Filipino San Jose local that was spending time with his son for Father’s Day was asked to leave the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk because of his tattoos, CBS SF Bay Area reports.
Mark Devera recorded his son on one of the boardwalk’s rides until two security guards tapped him on the shoulder. The security guards told Devera to leave because of the tattoos on the back of his arms. On his left arm is the word “Pinoy” and on his right arm is the word “Pride.”
“It’s an expression of me being proud to be Pinoy, a Filipino gentleman,” Devera told CBS SF Bay Area. “I’m proud of my country, you know, I’m proud of who I am.”
Devera began recording the two guards and asked to speak to the manager of the park. The manager took a look at his tattoos and said that they were fine, but he still had to cover them up with a shirt. Devera then pointed out multiple guests who had uncovered tattoos in the park, specifically one with Las Vegas tattoos.
“I was just, like, shocked,” Devera told CBS SF Bay Area. “I said you’re not going to talk to that guy and tell him to leave because he’s representing Las Vegas? And all I heard was crickets. They couldn’t even respond, and I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Despite the long argument, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk claims that they did not kick out Devera.
“I felt embarrassed,” Devera told CBS SF Bay Area. “I’m being harassed here and violated. I felt like I’ve been stripped off of my First Amendment. I’m a dad of four, who works Monday through Friday.”
Afterwards, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk released a statement addressing this situation.
“As an open-gate, free-admission amusement park, all Guests and their unique forms of expression are welcome. Some tattoos and other forms of expression may cause negative or aggressive reactions from some guests. At times we might ask Guests to cover these types of tattoos or clothing. When contacting a guest our goal is to have a respectful dialogue about our policies and our efforts to ensure everyone has a safe experience at the park.
With regards to this specific incident, the gentleman was not kicked off the Boardwalk. We did engage him in a dialogue and asked him to cover his tattoo out of an abundance of caution. After a lengthy discussion he agreed and remained at the park. However, this incident has caused us to engage in an internal investigation and discussion regarding our approach to this type of issue and we are working to determine if changes to our approach are warranted.“
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story or making a contribution.