"goth" couple now allowed to ride bus in UK
 

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Goth who walks fiancee on a leash is banned by bus driver who told him: 'No dogs allowed'
Last updated at 15:24pm on 22nd January 2008

Comments (50)


A goth, who likes to take his fiancee out for a stroll on a leash, claims that a bus driver told them "no dogs allowed" and banned them from boarding.

Dani Graves, 25, and his girlfriend dress all in black and like to take unusual walks, but the pair have been branded "freaks" and pushed off buses. He and Tasha Maltby, 19, were told they could not travel on the bus service and believe they have been targeted by the same driver three times. Gothic Dani claims the driver said: "We don't let freaks and dogs like you on."

Dani Graves and girlfriend Tasha Maltby claim they were branded 'freaks' by an off-duty driver and pushed off a bus in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. He said the incident, which was alleged to have happened in early December, took place when he and Tasha went to Dewsbury bus station in West Yorkshire.

An off-duty bus driver, who was also on the service, was still in uniform and allegedly pushed Dani off the bus and refused service to the couple.

He said: "He shoved me off the bus. He called us freaks and he called Tasha a dog. He said, 'we don't let freaks and dogs like you on'. "He basically grabbed my T-shirt and slammed me backwards. I got a bit angry and called him a fascist pig."

Dani, from Dewsbury, reported him to the manager at the bus depot, who said his complaint would be dealt with but added that despite his complaints, the same driver shook his head at the couple as they approached his bus a few weeks later. He said that after showing their bus passes and sitting down, the driver refused to let any other passengers on until they got off. They refused to get off the bus but were eventually forced off after being threatened with police action.

A third incident occurred last week, when Dani was waiting for a bus, this time alone. He said he held out his arm to flag it down, but the same driver smiled and drove past.

Dani relies on the bus service as he does not drive and suffers from a circulation problem that means he cannot walk long distances in cold weather.

He said he always got on with other bus drivers and although he took his fiancee round on a lead, they always took it off before getting on a bus as it could be dangerous. Dani said he believed this driver's treatment of them was purely down to the way they dress. He said: "He doesn't like the fact we wear black clothing. We expect the odd comment, but we don't expect it off a bus driver. "I have been a goth most of my life and it's the first time I've come across anything like this. It's crazy."

Paul Adcock, operations director for Arriva Yorkshire, said: "We take any allegations of discrimination very seriously and we will be investigating all of Mr Graves' claims. "Mr Graves has already contacted us directly and, as soon as our investigation has concluded, we will inform him of the outcome."

Oh my goodness that is so bad!!!!! I have been shoved in halls and stuff for being a gothic, one time I fell right over and dropped all my books. It upset me so much I had to go to the bathroom and cut. When will people learn that being a gothic does'nt make you a freak or any of those horrible things they call us, a lot less people would commit suicide and have mental health problems if people were more accepting!!!!!

You HAD to cut yourself, because you dropped some books?

I sympathise with some pathological cutters, but sometimes it's ridiculous.

Darn it! I mean't for the topic line to say "goth couple NOT allowed to ride bus in UK". Damn my typo!

either you are a troll, and not a very good one at that, or you are in serious need of a straightening out about this whole subculture.

clue : neither you, nor anyone else, is "a gothic"!!

and don't you dare blame your cutting on anyone else but you.

Perhsp it is how weepingblood addresses the pain. ANd lives up to her name. yes lives up to her name! I would have confronted them and helped you gather your books were I handy. I am big and scary. Wish you wouoldn't cut though.

Anyway, to address the article in question
Yes, UK bus drivers have a 33% rate of bastardiciousness. You learn to live with it after a while, especially if you use buses in London.
Yes, the bus driver was entirely out of order for refusing them service based on their attire and/or subculture and/or sexual preference.
However! I'd not take this word for word, the it's the Daily Mail, and thus of about the same journalistic calibre as other popular tabloid cat-litter-tray-liners such as The Sun.

As stupid as the leash thing is....
That bus driver is even stupider.

lol, I agree the leash thing is silly, imo (at least for doing it in public...hmmm...maybe save it for the bedroom?), but still, it's not like they are hurting anyone or being disruptive.

Oh no, people act strange and others don't understand them! SHOCK!!! Now I understand the funny looks I get when I'm dressed in my lobster suit.

A people wonder why we hate the brits. ;)

That's rather lame...

I don't understand why people have to let their prejudice thoughts influence their actions. So what if they're goths? Hate all you want, but damn, people should keep their actions to themselves.

How the guy still has a job after the first incident is beyond me.

My sister lives in Dewsbury. I've been to the station mentioned once or twice, but we usually take the train or walk anywhere we need. Even if it is completely accurate, the article doesn't surprise me too much from what I've seen of the downtown area. Reminds me of Innsmouth. Except replace fishy people with decrepit elderly and Islamic fundamentalists.

About the OP: Since others here don't seem to think it's from a reliable source, I have to wonder. But, on the supposition that it is true...damn, that guy seriously needs to be fired or something.

You aren't more Goth if you cut, or if people pick on you. When I was a teen, I wasn't Goth, but I -did- drop my books a lot and get picked on a fair bit. [I wasn't actually anything except quiet and unfashionable, to be honest.]

High school is high school, and even if you weren't Goth, chances are someone would find something to pick on you about. *shrug*

I did'nt say I was "more goth" because I cut.. in fact I cut because I am goth..

No Mr snappy, I did'nt cut because I dropped my books, it was because people MADE me drop my books by pushing me and were so mean I had what I call an episode. This is when it all gets too much for me and cutting helps me deal with it. I did'nt drop my books then cut, that would be lame. But people had been picking on me all day and it was just the last straw.

Cutting yourself because people picked on you is JUST as lame.

Thanks you for trying to be understanding dickpickle (hee hee cute name). You are right about it being how I address the pain. I am trying to stop cutting but it's hard when the world is so horrible and everyone wants to bring you down all the time, I know this happens to everyone but in my experience it happens more to gothics because we are different and people always pick on those who are different.

I smell a troll. (Shakes head) Things were just getting too quiet around here I guess.

As for the article, if it's true, the bus driver was an ass. When he's at work, he has to keep his prejudices to himself.

I'm not a troll, I'm just a sensitive person who is sick of being attacked. *shakes head* Maybe this is'nt the place for me.

You -are- aware that cutting has nothing to do with Goth subculture, correct? If you find it necessary to cut, then I recommend a therapist ASAP. It is NOT a healthy way to express emotion.

Yes, the world sucks. But people find other ways to deal with it other than cutting: Writing, drawing, creating art, or even trying to change the world for the better.

Yes, people pick on each other because they are different, but that's also no reason to do such a thing to yourself. Honestly, I hope you're lying about the cutting thing. I really really do.

And please...stop calling us 'gothics'. It's Goths. Just...Goths. "Gothic" is an adjective, not a noun.

Ok, I'm stopping there before I get in a real tizzy. If you need someone to talk to, feel free to PM or email me.

Thank you, that is nice of you but I think you are misunderstanding me.. I was half joking about the cutting because I am gothic thing, I just thought it was kind of funny because it sounded sort of poetic.. but I guess it was a bad joke. I know that cutting is'nt healthy and I am trying to stop, I do write poetry but sometimes it is'nt enough. But I am trying, I don't want to be scarred for life. Well physicly at least, I guess it's too late to stop it emotionally. But hey ho, I suppose it's the same for everyone else.

So...being a "goth" makes you cut? That's news to me. I thought a mental disorder makes people cut...not the gothic subculture. I've never self-harmed myself, and out of all of the people in the goth scene that I've known in the past 17 years, I've only known 1 person who did. It's a stereotype that all goths cut. If you truly have a self-harm disorder, I do hope that you get the help you need to overcome it...however, it really is annoying that so many people think that being "goth" means self-harming yourself. :(

No, it's not.

Admittedly, I've never attempted cutting, so I don't fully understand what you're going through, but I have been through my share of hell on earth. I have also been to therapy to sort through the hell and find better ways of coping.

I guess if you're a teen it's a bit harder to find a psychologist, but I think if you talked to your school counselor or someone, they may be able to help you stop.

But...that's only if you truly want to. If you don't really -want- to stop, then counseling and therapy aren't going to do any good.

The choice is yours, my lovely young dark Padawan..

Heh heh. Perhaps this is Fate/Karma's revenge on us for all those emo threads. ^^;;;

If we could all just calm down...

...A friend of mine from university has a similar tale to tell.
Set the scene, a wet and rainy day in Wales. And Master Mike the Metalhead is patiently waiting at the bus stop, trying to get to the hospital.

Mike's a good fellow, he's from Surrey (or Suffolk, hell I don't know) and he's a bit of a metalhead like I say. Back then he had a mohawk he always kept down and always wears his biker jacket when out and about.
Anyway, he wasn't sure if the bus went too the hospital so when one did come along he asked the driver if it did and the driver said no, before driving off with an un-nerving grin.

So, with some time to kill he investigated the timetable and found up the hospital was the other way, so he waited for the bus to do it's loop and come back again.

Eventually, after an hour or so it comes back and Mike flags it down. However, the bus driver won't let him on.
"What?" He asks, slightly perplexed.
It turns out the bus driver can refuse service to any customer. So what sin has Mike done to render him so undesirable?
"Because you look like a c*nt." Says our delightful driver.

Now, Mike is a good man, but he grew up in a rough place. So, after looking around for any nuns or small children that might be watching and happily seeing there weren't any...

...He punched the bus driver in the face and went on his merry way.

Edward: i like that guy mike already.

I would have probably ended up making that bus driver cry like a little bitch. People need to be a little more aggressive, people comment on my dress but never have i been assaulted because of it and may the gods have mercy on whoever tries.

I want to know Mike. =| He sounds awesome. xD

Ah, the fun that could be done with this situation in sue happy America.

"Oh, no service? Okay, well (*takes out cell*) let me just check with my attorney and see-- Oh, service now? Ah, good man."

Aggression breeds aggression?

I feel a somewhat more fitting punishment would be to complain and make the bugger lose his job.

No. Complaining will get you nowhere, laughed at maybe. Doing something like that the guy was challanging him to do something and in my opinion he should have gotten it. In mikes case he did get what was comming. Unfortunately the world doesnt work by pacifism. Personally i wouldnt ride in a bus where the bus driver was a prejudice jackass.

Ghandi did alright with his non-violent protests...
And look at Martin Luther King Jr. and his bus boycott!

Non-violence for the win.

And Thich Quang Duc and the Freedom Riders!

...and the protesters in Tiananmen Square!

Yes, but that wasn't about buses.
At least I hope not.

You're welcome. I wish you'd come back tho. "SOB!" they really gave you a lot of shit here about a number of things including the cutting. I have had friends who cut and used ot do it myself long ago although I was not really sure why. Yeah. People do suck. For me, too. Every day is a struggle it seems. But fuck 'em. Or even *butt* fuck 'em! W/ my piclkle!

You know, protest only works really well when you have a large amount of people on your side, but not quite big enough for them to get either the riot squad or the army in there to break it up.

It's a very fine line to walk along that protest works. Not that I'm saying that non-violence is bad, it's just the fact that the majority of people might be just as much of asses as the busdriver and finding a group to protest would be hard.

Mike sounds great.

I don't have much left to offer. I think Mike was in the right.

I saw that article about the goth couple in my morning paper just now... My first thought was that the weather here in good old UK-land is absolutely freezing this last couple of weeks - that girl must have some major frostbite. Anal retentive bus drivers are going to be the least of her problems...

LOL! I love Mike...

Yup I just saw the story in The Sun. Oo
The whole dog leash is silly. pfft.
But as for the driver being a dick. What the hell!??

But as someone mentioned, The bus driver has the right to deny access to anyone, so why don't they stop chavs and asshole loud mouthed kids get on?

a Goth gets on a bus, sits down, reads his book or sits there quietly. But what goes on around him is shouts from other passengers and s******'s and whispering.
Pathetic.
Shouldn't the driver be telling these other passengers to shut up or get off?

*shakes head* This makes me want to delibratly dress in something more outrageously goth to see if the same happens again.
We should all do this and then we will have our protest!
Who's with me!!
<_<
>_>

Yeah funny, not my issue here.

You're not serious with that Ron Paul thing in your signature are you?

The thing is if you do read US laws, NO one can be denied service from a business based on sex, religion, race, whatever floats your boat kind of thing. If you sell a good or service to 1 person you must to everyone else. Its why in america a transvestite can walk into a drug store and buy tampons if you he pleases and the store clerk cant tell him no. Of course this is doesnt cover age to buy alchohol or cigs but you get the point. A US bus driver cannot tell a black person he cant ride because he is black, he cant tell that to a jew. Someone who dresses strangely is included in this right. Unless he was exposing himself or dare i say not allowed due to lack of garments is in fact legally allowed that service. Im glad i got something out of high school economics.

Okay, you lost me there. Not your issue? Not mine either. I was just commenting on the fun way to use lawyers (for what little they are worth) in the United States. People panic if they think you might sue, especially with public services.

And yes, I am. Do you have a problem with me exercising my freedom to support the candidate of my choice? And further, is that relevant?

Well, almost. The mall here in Knoxville has a statement that they reserve the right to remove anyone who wears disruptive, threatening or gang related clothing. They are private institutions, though, and can do that. Public services, like government buildings and public transport can't.

I saw this on another non-goth forum I post on and came to post the story to see it'd already been posted. :)

I have an interest in lifestyle D/s relationships and actually know people who like to be led around on leashes but these people know when to indulge in their lifestyle and when to cater to vanilla situations.

Regardless of anything about the couple, the bus driver is VERY out of line.

Wish the article didn't equate goth and D/s like it's the same thing. :(

Wouldn't be the AFI forum perchance? It's on there .

Nah, but I'm ashamed of what forum it is so I'm not telling. ;P

thats a load of crap but arguable if people care to take it to court

I don't think he refused to let them on because they were goth, he was just jealous that he doesn't have a nineteen year old goth girl on a leash.

In all seriousness though, he should have let them on but as I think has already been mentioned he had the right not to. To be honest I'm really not surprised about this, there is always some arsehole who feels that treating someone like this is the best way to liven up an otherwise boring day.

Feeling like a freak on a leash (you wanna see the light);
Feeling like I have no release (so do I).


Yeah, I quoted Korn. You may shoot me now...