The first time Amanda Liberty laid eyes on Lumiere, it was love at first sight. She placed an order, and six days later, Liberty's $500 fiancée had arrived at her doorstep...
Age Gap
35-year-old Amanda Liberty doesn't think much of the 57-year age gap between herself and Lumiere. Her wife-to-be cost only $500 on eBay. After Lumiere was shipped over from Europe, the two began a passionate relationship...
Controversial Love
"As soon as I saw Lumiere on eBay, I knew immediately that she was the one for me and it was love at first sight," Amanda said. However, not everyone understood her relationship with the 92-year-old. Once Amanda caught wind of a disparaging newspaper article about her choice in fiancée, she went after them for discrimination...
Forever Single
Amanda had known there was something different about the way she experienced attraction since she was a young girl. Growing up, she had struggled to connect with others her age. No matter how hard she tried to fall for people, Amanda was unsatisfied in all of her relationships...
The Truth
When Amanda was in her late twenties, she came out to her peers, friends, and family about her sexuality. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to support her, and Amanda lost some of the people closest to her. Still, she had to be true to herself...
Love at First Sight
Amanda had experimented with dozens of lovers over the years. Even though her orientation had alienated her from others, she found solace in a variety of partners, all of whom lived with her in her home. One day, while scrolling through eBay, Amanda finally laid eyes on the love of her life...
Finally Complete
Amanda knew that she had no other option than to shell out the $500. Soon enough, her bride-to-be would be shipped to her from Germany, where she had been for the past 92 years. Amanda had never been this excited about any past relationship. She couldn't wait to start their life together...
Objectum Sexual
Of all Amanda Liberty's inanimate love interests, none held a candle to the chandelier that Amanda intended to marry. Amanda was finally ready to settle down with the light of her life, Lumiere, who she perceived as female. Amanda identified as "objectum sexual," or a person who is sexually attracted to objects.
Harsh Opinions
Amanda had faced her fair share of judgment for her choice of a romantic partner. When she saw that a columnist from The Sun had spoken ill of her relationship in a disparaging article, she wouldn't stand for it. Journalist Jane Moore had offended Amanda by insinuating that she was mentally unstable...
Two Stops Past Barking
In journalist Jane Moore's annual "awards" column, which most recently appeared in The Sun in late 2019, she named Amanda the winner of the "Dagenham Award (Two Stops Past Barking)." In Essex jargon, "two stops short of Dagenham" refers to someone who has gone mad. Amanda was deeply unhappy to be named the recipient, and she made it known...
Dim & Dimmer
In the article, Moore poked fun at Amanda's relationship with Lumiere, calling the pair "Dim & Dimmer." Amanda was livid. She complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation, or IPSO, that Moore's article had breached Clause 12 of the Editors' Code of Practice. Amanda felt that she was being discriminated against for her sexual orientation...
Pointing Out Errors
Amanda cited that Moore's article was "pejorative to her sexual orientation." She also clarified that she was not "married" to the chandelier, she was simply dating it. The Sun responded to her issues, stating that Clause 12 did not protect individuals' relations to their sexual orientation toward inanimate objects. Amanda was still upset...
Amanda's Strange Life
Although Amanda's lifestyle wasn't for everyone, IPSO acknowledged that she had a right to feel offended by the article. However, The Sun didn't forget to remind its readers that this wasn't the first time Amanda had discussed her personal life with the media. In 2012, the then-27-year-old was known as Amanda Whittaker—not Amanda Liberty.
Not Her First Rodeo
This wasn't Amanda's first time in the media spotlight. In 2012, Amanda made headlines for confessing her love for the Statue of Liberty. She referred to the statue as "Libby," claiming that it "satisfies [her] lovemaking needs." In fact, Amanda was so smitten with the monument that she changed her last name from "Whittaker" to "Liberty."
American Romance
Amanda was working as a shop assistant in Leeds, England when she began a long-distance relationship with the Statue of Liberty in New York City. Amanda first became infatuated with the famous 151-foot copper statue in 2007 after seeing a photo of a friend posing with it. Apparently, for Amanda, it was love at first sight.
In Love with Liberty
Amanda described her relationship with "Libby" as "sexually and emotionally fulfilling." According to her, there was immense chemistry as soon as they met. "I was overwhelmed with emotional and sexual excitement. When I saw her I almost cried," she said. She also added that Libby "satisfies [her] lovemaking needs." For years, she traveled between England and New York to visit the monument....
Devoted to "Libby"
The first time Amanda visited the Statue of Liberty, she felt as though it was hugging her back. Shocked tourists stared as she announced her devotion to "Libby." With each visit, Amanda became more attached. The fifth time they met, Amanda read the monument a love poem she had written for it...
Libby's Shrine
Amanda installed a shrine to the Statue of Liberty in her home, composed of hundreds of miniature statues. She even had a 6-foot-tall replica of the monument built in her bedroom. Amanda considered marrying "Libby," but chose not to on the basis that "so many others love her too." In the end, she found love elsewhere...
Committed to Lumiere
Now, Amanda has channeled her affections toward Lumiere, and she's finally ready to settle down. Prior to meeting Lumiere, Amanda claimed to have been in an open relationship with 24 different light fixtures. Her affairs with inanimate objects have been ongoing since her youth; when Amanda was 13, she fell in love with a drum kit. Although Amanda and Lumiere cannot officially wed, Amanda plans to hold a commitment ceremony to legitimize their love.
Living With Lumiere
In Amanda's spare time, she restores chandeliers. She wants them to look their best "so they can continue to interest people as they like to be the center of attention." She doesn't know what she'll wear to the ceremony, but she plans to buy matching rings for herself and the chandelier.
Captured by the Energy
Amanda says that as soon as she first saw Lumiere, she "couldn't stop thinking about her and how beautiful she was." The 35-year-old was transfixed by Lumiere's shape and energy. Amanda had something to say about those who didn't approve of her attraction to objects...
Following Her Heart
Amanda knows that people have trouble understanding her lifestyle. She says that objectum sexuality is a "natural orientation" for her and that she is able to sense energies in objects and see their true beauty. "I'm not hurting anyone by entering into a relationship with them, I am simply just following my heart," Amanda said. Others like Amanda have faced their own complicated situations...
Erika Eiffel
For most of her life, like Amanda Liberty, Erika Labrie's sexual orientation has been universally condemned. In 2007, the former soldier changed her last name to "Eiffel" following a commitment ceremony to her partner of a decade: the Eiffel Tower. However, Erika isn't only known for her relationship with the French monument...
Famous Archer
Eiffel, known as "Aya" in the world of archery, is an award-winning archer. One of her first loves was her archery bow, Lance, who helped her become a world-class archer. She also claims to have a physical relationship with a piece of fence which she keeps in her bedroom.
Objects Helped Her Recover
Eiffel entered the U.S. Air Force Academy in the early 1990s. During her first year there, she was assaulted by another cadet, but she managed to stave off her attacker with a training sword. Unfortunately, the traumatic event left her unable to sleep at night without her sword...
Healing from Trauma
"I really felt that the only way for me to sleep is if I was holding onto something, like my sword, because that was the one thing that protected me," Erika said. "And it just got worse." It wasn't long before Erika was dismissed from the Academy with a personality disorder...
Mrs. Eiffel
Erika first encountered the Eiffel Tower in 2004. She felt an immediate attraction to the structure. Erika told ABC News that she and others with OS "[...] feel an innate connection to objects. It comes perfectly normal to us to connect on various levels, emotional, spiritual and also physical for some." In 2007, Erika married the Eiffel Tower, changing her last name from LaBrie to Eiffel to honor her love.
Object Sexual
Unfortunately, even for people in non-human relationships, love doesn't last forever. After 10 years together, Erika broke up with her "greatest love." For Erika, OS is "not an affliction or an addiction; it's an orientation, the way we are inclined." Erika was disowned by her mother, lost nearly all of her archery sponsors after admitting that she was in love with her bow, and says that the media is responsible for her biggest heartbreak...
Pivotal Moment
One year after her commitment ceremony with the Eiffel Towel, a British documentarian told Erika that she wanted to cover it. At first, Erika appreciated the gesture, but the filmmaker started pushing the sexual aspect of the documentary. In one scene, it is heavily implied that Erika and the Eiffel Tower had consummated their relationship.
Heartbreak
"It was horrifying," Erika said. After the documentary was aired in France, the Eiffel Tower staff wanted "nothing to do with [her]." For the first time, Erika felt like she had been estranged from the love of her life. "I don't even know how to articulate a heartbreak like that. It just wrecked me. It was this final blow, and I just had to withdraw."
Back to Her Ex
To heal from the heartbreak, Erica went back to the old companion she knew best—which happened to be the Berlin Wall. "The Berlin Wall picked me up off my feet," Erika said. She identified with the Berlin Wall being hated for what it stood for, feeling similarly in her youth...
Rejected for Who She Was
"It was an object that was hated for being who he is. In the 1980s I felt empathy for him; he can't help where he was built," Erika said. "They focused their hatred on the wall, rather than the politics behind it. I felt like I was suffering in the same way. I went through a lot of rejection when I was younger because of my orientation."
Starting Fresh
After her breakup, Erika felt like anyone else who had just left a relationship—heartbroken. Soon afterward, Erika began working as a crane operator. Hundreds of feet above the ground, she slowly began to fall in love with her crane. "It took me a very long time to accept that maybe it's OK to start another relationship," she said, believing she'd never love again.
Learning to Love Again
"I thought I'd never fall in love again," Erika said. "But being a tower crane operator, no one can question or bar me from getting to know this object. I feel like the buildings we're creating together are almost like children." Still, Erika recognizes that the crane can't exactly fill the hole that the world's most famous romantic monument left in her heart...
Still Broken
Erika has learned to live with the pain of her relationship ending. "Everyone has an ideal in their head, but if you only look for that ideal then you'll probably end up being very lonely," she said. "It's like always lusting after a blond with blue eyes, but you end up with a redhead who has green eyes. I'm still in a cautious stage with tower cranes because my heart is still broken. I can't have the perfect relationship. I have to accept that."