Saturday 30 October 2010

Lesbos vs Lesbian

You know when I first heard that some islanders from Lesbos, an island in Greece, filed a lawsuit against an LGBT group to prevent them from using the term "lesbian", I find it quite funny. Not funny ha ha, but weird kinda funny. Some people just take things too seriously. Chill out mate!


I guess the Greek court was on the same wavelength as I did, eh. They dismissed the lawsuit accusing an LGBT rights group of demeaning the people of the Aegean island of Lesbos by purloining the word Lesbian, a term islanders have used to name themselves for centuries.


You see, they don't have to waste time going to the court. I could have told them they don't stand a chance. The word has been used and adopted into the dictionary worldwide. It's just common sense that the islanders did not have sole claim to the name. Nevertheless, they insist that they may appeal to the European Court. Whatever!

It's a well known fact that Lesbos was the home of the ancient poet Sappho, who praised love between women and often wrote passionate love poems to women. The island is a popular holiday destination for gay women. It's true! Just ask a few of my friends who loved going there in the summer. Ah! Bliss, they say.

Sappho lived from the late 7th to the early 6th century B.C. and is considered one of the greatest poets of antiquity. Very little is known of her 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.


Dimitris Lambrou one of the litigants in the case said Sappho was not gay. “But even if we assume she was, how can 250,000 people of Lesbian descent – including women – be considered homosexual?”


Tsk tsk... I didn't realise that Lesbians (I mean the people of Lesbos) are lacking intelligence. A lot, and I mean A LOT, of ancient lesbians were married and had children and still managed to have same sex relationship. It's something that is widely practised even today. Ever heard of closeted lesbians? Or double lives?


Lambrou also denied the suit was homophobic. “The word lesbian has been associated with gay women for the past few decades but we have been Lesbians for thousands of years,” he said.


Hahaha... now, that is funny!

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