Love Conquers All, Even Goths

Jan. 30, 2008 — -- In a sleepy town in northern England, Dani Graves dotes on his fiancee, Tasha Maltby.

"She is like a pet to me," Graves told ABC News. "I look after her, I run a bath for her every day, I cook for her, I wake her up every day. I even lay clothes out for her. I spoil her. It makes me happy to spoil her."

And everywhere they go, Graves, 25, leads Maltby, 19, around by a spiked black-leather leash attached to her neck.

"Tasha likes to be taken for a walk," Graves said. "She is animal-like in nature so why not? Just like I used to have pets around the home, she is now my pet. It is difficult at first to have a pet as a partner but it's working quite well. We are so in love now."

Since they started their relationship in the summer, the Gothic couple, who dress in black, have not spent a night apart.

Now the couple's alternative lifestyle has landed them on the front pages of the British tabloids.

In December, the couple, with the leash in his hand and around her neck, were set to board a bus and were stopped by the driver. Graves tells ABC News, the bus driver told them that "we don't let freaks and dogs like you on the bus. … And shoved me off the bus."

"Tasha was very offended," Graves said.

According to Maltby, the bus driver "was not a very nice person. He needs to lighten up."

''He made me really upset. He was really insulting. I am not a weirdo or a freak," she said. "OK, maybe I am not normal, but what is deemed normal these days?"

Arriva, the owners of the bus line involved in the incident, told the BBC they plan to make a formal apology to the couple for the way the incident was handled.

"Arriva takes any allegation of discrimination very seriously and have interviewed the driver regarding Mr. Graves' claims," Arriva told the BBC.

Attempts by ABC News to contact Arriva officials for comment were unsuccessful.

"The bus company has been brilliant. It's just one person, the bus driver," Graves said.

But Arriva officials did defend the driver. Paul Adcock, the operations director, told BBC, "Our primary concern is passenger safety and while the couple are very welcome to travel on our buses, we are asking that Miss Maltby remove her dog lead before boarding the bus. It could be dangerous for the couple and other passengers if a driver had to brake sharply while Miss Maltby was wearing the lead."

This latest bus incident is not the first or second but the third time the Gothic couple says they were not allowed to travel on public transport. What's more is that in each case, it was the same bus driver.

Maltby tells ABC News that they have "considered filing a lawsuit but lawyers are ridiculously expensive and we won't make a profit. We have put in a complaint. The director of operations came around. We told him about three separate incidents and he was really shocked, he only knew of one. He was really helpful."

"We really feel discriminated. I am not breaking any laws. We shouldn't be discriminated against what we wear," Graves said.

"We just want to teach the bus driver a lesson and hopefully next time he will not be closed minded. Right now we just want to let bygones be bygones," he said.

What has come out of this whole experience is that the couple now knows they are not alone. "People see it as weird but people all over the world are like this. They do this at home."

At least 10 people have contacted them and many more have visited their MySpace page.

''We have had e-mails from all over including Australia and Japan. They are animal-like people who wanted to say thanks. Because they say we have given them the confidence and helping them out."

The Internet is now their oyster. Graves explained that "I will be setting up another MySpace group page for alternative people, to help them and offer support."

The happy couple hope to tie the knot within two to three years, "when we can afford it," Graves said. They already have an offer from the magazine Bizarre to photograph them on their happy day.

"You know when you are looking for that last piece of jigsaw puzzle? I have found it and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him," Maltby said. According to the teenager, they never argue.

She is a music technology student who likes to watch the show "8 Simple Rules" and the Cartoon Network. He is hoping to start a training course in March to help mentally disabled teenagers.

"'We are very different, but if you spend five minutes with us, and you'll know we are nice, down-to-earth people. We like to read and we watch TV. We are not scary, freaky people," Graves said.

"I like being spoiled. I feel owned and I like that feeling," Maltby said. "It's a stability because you feel like someone is always there. I just love being a pet. It's when we are happiest the most," she said.

The collar, she says, is one of a kind. "I wear the collar all the time but not the lead. It is engraved on the front with Tasha and on the back it says "property of Dani Graves." I know that no one else in the world has one like it."

Maltby says she is not being forced to wear the collar — it's a sign of commitment that is a little like a ring on the finger, which Maltby apparently also wears.

"Tasha is like pet to me, she is very animal like. She chose to wear the lead. It's the only way we are happy, the lead was the only way to go. She feels like she needs this lead, it's a sign of commitment," Graves said.

Graves said that he "walks her when we are out. I like to take her to the park where she can run after the ball." She likes to "run around and chase the ball," he said.

"I think it is perfectly OK behavior. We really do have a happy relationship," he said.

Maltby's parents are supportive. "My dad obviously isn't happy but it's not his life. I do love my dad, he means the world to me but I am not hurting myself or anyone. My mum is proud of me. She says if I am happy then she is happy. She says that I am not going out getting drunk and getting into fights — that's why she thinks I am a role model. I don't drink, smoke or break the law. I do normal thinks, I like reading and exercising."

"There is nothing sexual about the lead and it is not part of the Goth culture. It is quite personal," he said.