Piercings

Piercings are a form of body modification created by placing jewelry through pierced skin or tissue. They carry a deep history in LGBTQ+ and kink subcultures. The modern Western piercing revival is often traced to figures like Jim Ward, who in the early 1970s helped build a piercing scene rooted in gay leather and West Hollywood communities, alongside promoter Doug Malloy. Genital and nipple piercings, including the Prince Albert, took on erotic and subcultural meaning in gay male life, and the piercing boom of the 1990s was driven heavily by queer and punk communities. Placement has also carried coded signals about sexual roles. For many transgender and non-binary people, piercings can serve as meaningful markers of gender identity and self-expression.