A woman with 800 tattoos, including a crucifix on her face, has alleged that she's been banned from her local church.
Melissa Sloan, from Powys, UK, has spent over 10 years inking every crevice of her body with tattoos that were mostly done at home by her partner Luke.
One of the 46-year-old's extensive inks includes a cross emblazoned on her nose, which was added to her collections after her partner suffered a health scare.
However, the mom-of-seven has claimed the new tattoo has generated some heat as she was allegedly kicked out while attending the congregation at church.
Speaking to Daily Star, Melissa candidly opened up about her ordeal after being banished from the religious building, claiming the priest told her: "You've got to leave.'"
"Everyone turned their back laughing at me," the mother told the outlet. "The priest said 'you've got to leave,' but most of them were laughing at me, nothing new. The priest must be evil to do that."
She was apparently told it was because she was "singing too loud" but she felt this was unfair as many other attendees were also singing. She added that the house of God is supposed to be a safe space for everyone.
"I felt like the odd one out," she said. "The church is supposed to open its doors to everyone, but I got kicked out of there. I was singing with loads of people in there, it was crazy."
The church wasn’t the first place the mom has allegedly been asked to leave, as she was reportedly kicked out of tattoo parlors, her own mother’s funeral, and her children’s nativity play, according to The New York Post.
"I’m used to it now, I’ve been banned from everywhere and discriminated against everywhere. But I just don’t give a toss anymore," she said of her daunting experiences.
Melissa expressed that while she was used to receiving bad reception due to her appearance, there was an extra level of shock at allegedly being asked to leave the church, saying fundamental messages from the Bible such as "love thy neighbor" had clearly been lost.
"I can’t believe in helping anyone anymore, for anything," she declared. "I have no faith in the church now because they’re supposed to help everyone, but they didn’t help me."
"There’s evil people in the church, there must be. To chuck me out like that, no one helped me. They all just sat there, so they must be evil – not all of them," she continued.
Although the mother feels as though she has lost faith following the rejection, she told the outlet that she still believes in Jesus, sharing: "He would love me because he doesn’t judge anyone."
