Headline of the Week Weak
Filed under: Gay Gay Gay > Headline of the Week > Wacky, Tacky & True
" People of Lesbos take gay group to court over term 'Lesbian'"
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[Photo via Getty Images.]
People of Lesbos take gay group to court over term 'Lesbian'
A Greek court has been asked to draw the line between the natives of the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos and the world's gay women.
Three islanders from Lesbos — home of the ancient poet Sappho, who praised love between women — have taken a gay rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name.
One of the plaintiffs said Wednesday that the name of the association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, "insults the identity" of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians.
"My sister can't say she is a Lesbian," said Dimitris Lambrou. "Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos," he said.
The three plaintiffs are seeking to have the group barred from using "lesbian" in its name and filed a lawsuit on April 10. The other two plaintiffs are women.
Also called Mytilene, after its capital, Lesbos is famed as the birthplace of Sappho. The island is a favored holiday destination for gay women, particularly the lyric poet's reputed home town of Eressos.
"This is not an aggressive act against gay women," Lambrou said. "Let them visit Lesbos and get married and whatever they like. We just want (the group) to remove the word lesbian from their title."
He said the plaintiffs targeted the group because it is the only officially registered gay group in Greece to use the word lesbian in its name. The case will be heard in an Athens court on June 10.
Sappho lived from the late 7th to the early 6th century B.C. and is considered one of the greatest poets of antiquity. Many of her poems, written in the first person and intended to be accompanied by music, contain passionate references to love for other women.
Lambrou said the word lesbian has only been linked with gay women in the past few decades. "But we have been Lesbians for thousands of years," said Lambrou, who publishes a small magazine on ancient Greek religion and technology that frequently criticizes the Christian Church.
Very little is known of Sappho's life. According to some ancient accounts, she was an aristocrat who married a rich merchant and had a daughter with him. One tradition says that she killed herself by jumping off a cliff over an unhappy love affair.
Lambrou says Sappho was not gay. "But even if we assume she was, how can 250,000 people of Lesbian descent — including women — be considered homosexual?"
The Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece could not be reached for comment.
You're an ass!!
First !!!
first?
First, bitches! Love you Perez!
haha what idiots.
Why the pic of JT??
FIRST!
ok
PEREZ! you have a fucking bumper sticker on facebook…hahahahahahahaha
first?
They shouldn't be hatin on the lesbians. They bring in the big tourist money. Plus, I heard Sappho has a lesbian sex tape out. Top that, bitches.
Cool… now I know where to take my girlfriend on our anniversary.
HAHA!!!
first bitchez!!
i actually think this lawsuit is a good idea.
ive been to lesbos and its beautiful, and all people do is take the piss out its name and the people that come from there because of it sexual connotations.
i am in no way homophobic, but the people from lesbos have been calling themselves lesbians for over 7000 years (i also study ancient history and archaeology at university) and have the right to protect their identity.
I understand that they have had the title "Lesbians" longer than it has been used by homosexual women. However I dont see how any court could change the common use of the word. I suggest they keep calling themselfs lesbians and maybe get some laughs..Or they could always use Mytilene.
Im sorry but the whole "we have been lesbians for thousands of years" comment is fucking hilarious!
BORING!!!
Eh, they have a point. So, anyone got any ideas for a new word for women who are homosexuals?
That is effing AWESOME!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well it's about fucking time…..hey Perez can I cum in your ass?
I'm mad at you for having advertisements with sound.
Americans were the only sue happy humans on the planet,now they have competion.
thats hilarious! all this time we been calling people Lesbos and not knowing it was an actual place!
I thought the lesbos are called "gayelles" now!?! What is the fuzz about?!?
TRAVOLTA, get rid of that RAT ON YOUR HEAD!@!
How are they going to get people to stop using the term lesbian?
What are they suing for, money?
I think they're doing it to get attention
Re: s – It is the island of Lesbos not the island of Lesbia so why have they not thought to refer to themselves as Lesbosians?
im from cyprus (greek speaking) neighbours of Greece and saw this on the news today and thought it was hilarious!
LOL!! thats funny, they might get the word to stop being used officialy, but at this point i think its probably better for them to change the name of thier country than to try to get women who are homosexual to stop saying they are lesbian. the woman group has totaly taken over and identified with that word and so has the world. so that little country, should just change thier name cuz i never even heard of it before and everyone just associates lesbians with a gay woman.
Whenever I read something about Lesbos, I can't help but think of Jeff on the British comedy, Coupling - he ALWAYS made me laugh…
p.s from the girl from cyprus Lesbos is not pronounced the same, the place is completely different sound to it. however when they call the women from there lesbiens it sounds exactly the same. and funny!
ahahahahahha- i want to visit the isle of Lesbos and meet the Lesbians!
I thought the official name for someone from the island of Lesbos was Lesbosian.
oh please, I bet Lisbon, Portugal will file next
Firstly, my grandmother lives on Lesbos. It is prounced Lesvos with a V. The greek letter b is pronouced v. So I don't see what all the fuss is about.
The lesbian (gay women) bring good tourism money to our island and most Greek people refer to the island as Mytilene anyway. But I do feel for these real women of Lesvos. Sucks to be them and not gay.
well I'm actually Greek and my family is from the island of Lesbos… so to FUNNY GIRL we can't just change the name of ou country, our country is GREECE, HEARD OF IT? and the island is called Lesbos. They actually use the name of the capitol Mytiline, in the airports, and on many maps. I always found it funny that I'm from Lesvos, so a Lesbian, but not really a Lesbian (im not a homosexual)… but in any event, I don't see anything wrong with them not wanting a homosexual woman called Lesbian…. It's like us calling homosexual women American, because a famous gay woman was from America. Im not sure it can be changed sinec it's been this way for YEARS, but it's not a bad thing to try. And Im not homophobic in any way, I have no problem with all of the lesbian tourists there every summer, but I have been made fun of numerous times for being form the island of Levos/Lesbos.
This is where I'm going to like my wombs, I mean lick my wounds, after I loose at the DNC. And by the way, I am not Fucking Obama, as the song goes. The song should be I'm Fucking Yo Mama.
Funny Girl–how about you learn your geography! Lesbos is part of Greece! PFFT And I totally agree with you #36 Sort of Lesbian.
my friend took a course at oxford & learned that "lesbians" invented the blowjob.
there is back up in wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellatio
*Spiritual significance
Galienus called the fellatio "lesbiari" since women of the island of Lesbos (then called Lesbians, now called Lesbosians) were supposed to have been the introducer of the practice to use ones lips to give sexual pleasure.[3]
i think this makes sense. you people are not thinking of the big picture. that'd be like if EVERYONE used the word American to describe gay men. instead of gay, the word was american. So everytime you went to another country and said "Im American" everyone would assume you were gay. It is kinda fucked up but theres lesbians all over the world so they would be better off just changing their names to Lesbans or something lol
I think this lawsuit has merit; its not the group's existence that they're upset about, but the use of what is essentially their cultural identity in the title. I studied Sappho in a class last year and while I understand where the term Lesbian came from, it also has been in use much longer than it has been used to denote sexual orientation.
The island of Lesbos had been a Turkish island for hundreds of years and there was not any problem like this. Because the Turkish word for the island is "Midilli". If greeks are so unhappy about the use of lesbian then they can always use the Turkish name "midilli" which has no sexual connotation at all.
man must suck to be them. good luck homies!!
Re: then, use the turkish name! – fuck off bitch!LESBOS IS GREEK .we're ruling the Aegean sea and the turks r jealous of us cuz they'll never get in the European Union. not even the germans and the french people want them in europe. and the word turk is greek.go learn some history BITCH!
Re: funny girl – Just a Geography lesson for you sweetheart, Lesbos is and Island in Greece, not it's own little country! and if your read the article properly, they aren't saying lesbians should change what they call themselves, just that particular Groupe that registered under that name in Athens.
i dont get it.. the place is called lesbos but they dont want u to use the term lesbian.. im confused
"But we have been Lesbians for thousands of years"
heee
Thank you KK. I noticed that quite a few people missed the whole reading comprehension & spelling lessons they teach in school. I understood the article to mean that they did not want the term Lesbian used in the groups name only. As always, you have your stupid, angry and useless people responding. God help us if they are our future.
Hahahahahhaaha- awesome.
Re: Moody – You sound kind of angry yourself.
Re: aa – Rug Munchers has a ring to it, no?
ISN'T IT GREAT THE WAY PEREZ USED A PICTURE OF "TWO WORLD FAMOUS QUEERS"…THE NELLIE MZ REVOLTA, AND THE BUTCH MR FOSTER…..TO ILLUSTRATE THIS NUTTY STORY ?????
they both swing on the other side of the fence. still luv them to bits though, theyve some some excellent movies .
I am soooo sick of homosexuals pushing their lifestyle down our throats!! And you Perez are the worst of them all!! I used to not care, but anymore I think it is a brain disease!!!!!
Let the damn islands change their name
Re: brainchild –
lmfao, I guess that would make it the world's oldest sex tape.
Re: whatever – HONEY, I'VE GOT JUST THE THING TO SHOVE DOWN YOUR THROAT!
homosexuality is a part of greek culture. they're the only ones in recorded history to dress their wives up as little boys just to be able to sleep with them. why are they getting offended now? notice the only ones supporting this nonsense are from that shit hole of a country
ALL GREEKS ARE HOMOS THE ONLY BAD THING IS THEYRE TRYING TO HIDE IT WITH THIS NONSENSE
Jodie sure has trouble filling out a bra!
John Travolta has way to much face to deal with…I can't look at him. He needs to lose 40 pounds from his face.
Shouldn't people from Lesbos be called Lesbosians???
I definately laughed at "My sister can't say she is a Lesbian," and "we have been Lesbians for thousands of years." Good article, obviously written to make people laugh, which it did, but at the same time its not that funny that a whole civilization can't show patriotism for their country without being laughed at or having to explain their sexual orientation.
as a gay female, I am laughing my ass off..
That is insane! If it makes them that uncomfortable, why can't they just say, "I'm from Lesbos"? I mean, I don't say "I'm Virginian"–I say, "I'm from Virginia." Or how about plain and simple "I'm Greek"?
Re: Kate – Nor does being from Virginia make you a virgin.
i totally emailed this article to perez how hilarious!
Re: michiez –
ummm, read again
This does not surprise me. I'm not Greek but i live in Greece and i am married to a Greek guy. They are ultra-homophobic.
What has always confused me about the islands name is that LESBOS (ΛΕΣΒΟΣ) in Greek is actually pronounced LESVOS because B in Greek is actually a V sounding letter:)
So the name should be spelt as LESVOS in my opinion.
Google "U.S. Congress and Communism 1963" and read what it says about homosexuality.
Re: then, use the turkish name! –
It was only a turkish island for hundreds of years because greeks were enslaved by fucking turks for 400 years!! take a look at an ancient map and get it right, moron!
SO- Isn't this place the true home of Lesbianism?
John Travolta isn't a lesbian! He just pretends to like women! LOL
Re: j –
Your husband is gay you stupid bitch. Greeks are not homophobic, but YOU are a fag hag. Go fuck yourself whore.
obviously they are homophobic if they're freaking out about such a dumbass thing. fucking retard
Re: ANNA NICOLE SMITH – No one likes stereotypes. Please let there be one Greek person who will respond saying that Greeks do not think they own the whole world and believe they are superior. The rest of the world loves Turks and Macedonians and every other group of people you so hate. We absolutely love them. Go stuff yourself with some of your Greecey food.
Re: UH HUH[/re]
Wow, what a sophisticated response. Does it hurt when you slam your extended forehead into the computer? 'fag hag'- if that means i have gay friends, well yes i'm a fag hag and proud of it.
Re: michiez – You're not alone. I'm as confused as you are.
Whats the big deal!
I was wondering when they were going to sue! I'm all for the lesbians… Homosexual or islander!