Women from Lesbos are Lesbians, but not lesbians
Three residents of the island of Lesbos are taking a gay rights group to court for using the word ‘lesbian’ in its name. Lesbos was home to the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who wrote about female love.
People on the island are known as Lesbians. And the plaintiffs in this court action want a gay group, the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, to be barred from using ‘lesbian’ in their title. The island is a preferred destination for gay women, many of whom come to visit Sappho’s home town of Eressos.
The plaintiffs feel that the use of the word insults the people of Lesbos, and tries to usurp their identity. They don’t want to discourage gay women from visiting the island, but just want the word ‘lesbian’ removed from the group’s title. Residents of Lesbos have been known as Lesbians for thousands of years, while it’s only been linked with gay women for the last few decades.
I guess if women from the isle of Lesbos introduce themselves as Lesbians, it can cause a little bit of confusion in today’s knowledge of the term. But can they really stop the group from using the word? We’ll have to wait to find out.
Image: Newscom
7 Comments
hey, if they don’t want to be called lesbians then I think that they shuldn’t be. I mean..there shouldn’t be any confusion..right? And they OBVIOUSLY don’t want to be linked with homosexuals.
no, they WANT the name. they just say they have a prior claim to it.
That’s a fun fact to share with everyone: ALL women from the Greek island of Lesbos are Lesbians.
Can you imagine getting that one in Trivial Pursuit?
Completely misguided, and sad. Just wanted to point out:
Men from Lesbos are Lesbians, too.
Yup. Indeed they are. Everyone is, even the kids.
Reminds me of a South Park episode, actually, where the kids claimed to be lesbians. Of course, they didn’t quite know what it meant…
[...] how some residents of Lesbos sued a gay rights group over the use of the term ‘lesbian’? Well, they [...]