Being attracted to chandeliers is not a protected sexual orientation, according to a landmark ruling
Amanda Liberty identifies as “objectum sexual”.(StoryTrender/ YouTube)
Amanda Liberty, a woman who complained she was discriminated against because of her relationship with a chandelier, has been told that attraction to light fixtures is not a protected sexual orientation.
Liberty, from Leeds, said that The Sun newspaper breached the discrimination clause of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) editors’ code of practice in a column headlined “Goops! it’s my highs & lows of 2019“, published on December 18, 2019.
The columnist, Jane Moore, awarded Liberty the “Dagenham Award (Two Stops Past Barking)” and questioned whether she was “dim and dimmer?”
Liberty claimed that the article was “pejorative to her sexual orientation in breach of Clause 12 (discrimination)”, and also complained that the article described her as “married” to the 92-year-old German chandelier named Lumiere, when she was actually “engaged”.
Attraction to objects is not a protected sexual orientation, says IPSO.
According to the IPSO ruling, The Sun “said that it did not doubt that the complainant’s attraction to chandeliers was genuine, however it said that sexual orientation in the context of Clause 12 covered people who were attracted to people of the same sex, the opposite sex, or both… The publication also noted that the complainant had already put extensive details of her attraction to objects in the public domain via previous interviews and articles.
“It said that just as the complainant had exercised her freedom of expression in speaking about her then engagement to the chandelier, the columnist was entitled to comment on it.”
The press regulator dismissed the complaint, ruling that the discrimination clause “provides protection to individuals in relation to their sexual orientation towards other persons and not to objects”.
Amanda Liberty and Lumiere. (Facebook)
Amanda Liberty identifies as “objectum sexual”.
Amanda Liberty, who identifies as “objectum sexual”, has said she was previously in a relationship with the Statue of Liberty, hence her last name. She also says her first boyfriend was a drum kit.
Although she is engaged to 92-year-old Lumiere, she still has what she calls an open relationship with her other chandeliers, but insists that they never get jealous.
In an interview with StoryTrender in 2019, she described her relationship with Lumiere and their upcoming wedding.
She said: “I’m in love with chandeliers, and I’m making a commitment to my favourite one – Lumiere.”
“When I first saw Lumiere, she was on eBay in Germany,” Liberty said. “It was the shape of her arms that first drew me to her… I love everything about her, she’s so unusual.
“I’ve seen tens of thousands of chandeliers, and not one of them even comes close to her in terms of how they look… and her personality is wonderful… I like to shower her with affection, and I like to give her gifts.
“She makes me feel really special, she makes me feel whole, she makes me feel complete.”
Liberty admitted that there was a “lack of conversation” in their relationship, but said she doesn’t “need that from her” because she has conversations with friends and family.
She hopes to exchange rings with Lumiere soon in a commitment ceremony, and added: “I’m perfectly fine, I have a good life, I meet lots of people. I’ve got loads of friends, I’ve got my family.
“I do all sorts of things out and about that are just everyday things. The only thing that’s different is that I love a chandelier.
“I’m not mad, I’m just myself.”
