Last weekend, a Māori man living in Australia got kicked out of a restaurant because the bouncer didn't like the look of his face.
Gary Harding is a rugby league coach and cultural adviser for Māori and Pasifika youth at a Melbourne corrections centre.
But last Saturday, his tā moko was the reason a bouncer wouldn't let him eat at a Melbourne restaurant.
On its website, the restaurant, Village Belle, asks guests to wear neat, casual attire; but there's actually no mention of tattoos.
Speaking to The Project from Melbourne on Friday night, Harding said the bouncer told his tā moko "wasn't a good look".
"Upon arriving at the venue, I took off my beanie to enter the restaurant.
"Then the security there quickly said to me: 'Sorry mate, can't let you in with that on'.
"He quickly said 'I can't let you in with those tattoos all over your face'."
Harding said it took him a couple of days to mull over the incident.
"Me and my partner had the discussion, and the whole point about putting it out there was sharing our culture to the world," he told The Project.
"It's about educating people around 'this is who we are, and we're proud of our culture'."
