What's In A Name? Were You Born There Or Are You Just Gay?
MayorBob.
Posted to Legal on Fri May 02, 2008 at 10:29:10 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Lesbos is the third-largest island in Greece. The natives (as well as those who emigrated from there) commonly refer to themselves as Lesbians. A problem has arisen because a Greek gay pride group chose to incorporate the "L" word into its title. A group of Lesbians have taken umbrage and are pursuing legal action against the gay pride group. At issue is who should have the right to call themselves lesbians: the gay women of the world or the 100,000 people living on the island plus the 250,000 expatriates who call Lesbos home.
The Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece is the target of a lawsuit brought by some of the island's natives. According to Dimitris Lambrou, a local publisher, gay women have no automatic right to call themselves lesbians. He reasons that, while gay women may have appropriated the word for the past couple of decades, "we (Lesbos natives) have been Lesbians for thousands of years." Lambrou says the lawsuit, which seeks an injunction against the gay pride group's use of Lesbian in the title, is not an attack on gay women. He says:"Let them visit Lesbos and get married and whatever they like. We just want (the group) to remove the word lesbian from their title."
Lesbos was the home of the Greek female poet, Sappho. Sappho is credited with creating a series of love poems to women during the 7th century (BCE). Thus, the name of the island, and the term lesbian, came to be connected with feminine homosexuality. But Lambrou contends he did a little digging and determined that Sappho was actually a heterosexual, who committed suicide over love for a man - a theory concurred in by some and disputed by others.
A judge in Athens will hear arguments in the case in June. Lambrou said the lawsuit was brought because the gay pride group's name "insults the identity" of the people of Lesbos plus it is the only officially registered gay group in Greece to use lesbian as part of a title. The group itself said it will fight to keep its name. Lambrou says whether Sappho was gay herself is immaterial, it's the damage done to the island's natives that matters, "even if we assume she was (gay), how can 250,000 people of Lesbian descent - including women - be considered homosexual?"
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