I was with you until this last part.
I have a span of control that's pretty wide (corporate speak for there's a lot of people who report up to me). While I have a tattoo myself, and I do not necessarily discriminate against people with ink, if a kid came in here looking for a job with a lizard tongue and a tat across the front of his neck, I would not hire him.
It has nothing to do with having a tattoo so much as a very basic question: "Do I trust a person to make the right decisions when he made that decision?"
I often tell people EVERYTHING is an interview. The IT community used to be pretty small comparatively. I remember one guy just turned into a rabid @$$hole on a usenet post, calling me names, questioning my masculinity and heritage ... you get the idea. Not 6 months later his resume ended up on my desk.
I love irony.
I am with you in every respect here. My point though was that he made some bad decisions when he was really young (and dumb) and even though he makes better decisions now, and is digging himself out of the hole he put himself in, those permanent choices will be with him forever. Regardless of how many good decisions he makes for the rest of his life, and how much he "turns himself around" he will *always* be judged for past indiscretions.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't pity him. He made his bed, he has to lie in it.