Martin Austermuhle
Weaver, meet-up organizer Allyson Behnke and Panetta.On Saturday afternoon, Bryan Weaver and Mike Panetta got their first tattoos. Panetta, the three-term D.C. Shadow Representative, settled for a traditional replica of the District’s flag on his right arm, while Weaver, who recently ran for an At-Large seat on the D.C. Council, went for the Mayan symbol for the number 13 — two horizontal bars with three dots above them.
Both Panetta and Weaver opted for the tattoos after weeks of prodding from a local group that has organized a meet-up tomorrow in Dupont Circle to coincide with national celebration of Flag Day — DC Flag Tattoo Day: Flag Day in the Flesh. Part celebration of the District’s hometown pride and part protest of the city’s longstanding second-class status, organizers have put the word out to anyone who has a stars-and-bars tattoo — and even those who don’t — to gather at Dupont Circle at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The gathering is the brainchild of District resident Allyson Behnke, who found herself debating new ways to protest the District’s lack of voting rights and statehood after a May 11 D.C. voting rights protest where eight women were arrested. Benhke, who herself has a D.C. flag tattoo, also thought the gathering would also be a clever way to promote pride in a fast-changing city.
“I’d like to see positive attention be brought to D.C. We have a cultural renaissance going on in our city, with blooming communities of artists, entrepreneurs, designers and thinkers,” Behnke told DCist.
Since the event was announced, Behnke says she knows of six people that got the tattoos, including Weaver and Panetta. Additionally, she said, “over the past 5 years or so, I have known about a total of 12 people, including myself, who have gotten D.C. flag tattoos.” She also pointed to District Love, a Tumblr site documenting a variety of D.C. flag tattoos, that launched a year ago. (The Post published an interesting article in 2004 on residents who got D.C. flag tattoos.)
For those that are either unwilling to go the permanent route, or are simply deathly afraid of needles (guilty as charged!), fear not — organizers have promised that hundreds of temporary D.C. flag tattoos will be available to all comers. The gathering will last until 8 p.m., after which a party will be held at Eighteenth Street Lounge.
