'AITA for refusing to remove a sentimental tattoo from my late ex for my current girlfriend?'

A 24-year-old man recently took to Reddit's popular "Am I the A**hole" (AITAH) forum to seek advice regarding his decision to keep a tattoo from his ex-girlfriend despite his current partner's insistence.

The post has garnered hundreds of upvotes and comments, with several Redditors siding with the man due to the emotions attached to the tattoo.  

Man is unwilling to remove a tattoo from his ex-girlfriend who died in an accident

The original poster (OP) began, "My 24M girlfriend 29F and I have been together 2 years. I only have one tattoo. I got it when I was 19 and it was given to me by my ex-girlfriend."

"The tattoo, while it’s not directly about or 'for' my ex, she was the person to tattoo it on me. It’s a small, minimal tattoo. My ex and I never broke up. She died unexpectedly in an accident. I was 21," he explained. 

The man shared that it took him a while to heal from the loss and that he didn’t pursue a serious relationship until he met his current girlfriend two years ago. "I haven’t been in a serious relationship until this one I’m in now, because I’ve taken time to overcome the loss and all the associated trauma," the OP wrote. 

However, his current partner sees the tattoo as a lingering attachment to his late girlfriend and wants him to remove it.

"To me, my tattoo holds a lot of meaning — it extends beyond the relationship I had with my ex. I’ve tried to explain that to my girlfriend but her thinking is black and white: if you’re over her, just get it removed. Can’t you do this for me? Don’t you want to move on? It means you’re stuck in the past. These are some of her arguments," the man shared. 

Feeling conflicted, the OP asked the Reddit community, "AITAH for wanting to keep my tattoo?"

Redditors call OP's current partner 'ridiculously immature' for asking him to remove the sentimental tattoo

The Reddit community overwhelmingly supported the 24-year-old man, calling his girlfriend's demands unreasonable and overly insecure.

One commented, "That girl isn't your ex. She's your late girlfriend, and she deserves to be treated as such. You should feel no shame in keeping a tattoo that pays tribute to her."

Another wrote, "You guys are still young. She’ll learn (in part, hopefully, because you set a boundary here), that people have histories. Not every previous relationship is all bad. Memories and scars and tattoos and injuries and accomplishments are all bits and pieces of what make us us. If she loves you now, she loves the person who lived before she met you. I can understand being threatened by a romantic rival (even or maybe especially one who has passed!), and if that’s too much to get over, then that’s too bad. She’s got some work to do on herself. But maybe she can see it differently if you’re able to talk it through. You never know. NTA."

"I know people have issues separating creation from creator, but your gf is being ridiculous. Firstly, don't ever remove tattoos, instead get cover-ups because it's a less painful process. Secondly, it's not like your late gf can magically reappear in your life so any harm to your relationship is psychological and current gf is doing a lot of the damage with her insecurity. Thirdly, it's possible that you aren't fully ready and there really are some issues but she's addressing a made-up symptom in her mind instead of any real relationship issues. Like, if you actually neglect her in any way is a real problem...not the tattoo," an individual offered. 

"The current girls is the ex girlfriend, she’s so insecure that she’s competing with the departed," another comment read. 

"NTA. why is she jealous of something that is not with us anymore? that tattoo holds a memory, and it looks like she is more stuck in the past than you for dwelling on this," one more wrote.

Another Redditor said, "NTA. She's being ridiculously immature to keep badgering you about this. It's a red flag."

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