Islanders ask court to ban gay use of the word 'lesbian'

Published on Wednesday 30 April 2008 22:20

A GREEK court has been asked to draw the line between the natives of the Aegean 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.

The plaintiffs said their court action, led by a publisher and two women from Lesbos, is hoped to secure a ruling which will then be used to fight the word "lesbian" internationally.

According to the charges made public yesterday, the plaintiffs from the island say that the local organisation Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE) violates the human rights of the islanders and disgraces them internationally.

It says international dominance of the word in its sexual context has forced the residents and even government authorities to avoid using the island's historic name for fear of public humiliation.

Instead, it points out, Greek authorities have been printing maps and textbooks trying to rename the island Mytiline, after its capital city. The island is the third largest in Greece after Crete and Rhodes.

The charges say: "To use this word and to get it imposed internationally constitutes a rape of our historic identity and our human rights."

Conceding that the word lesbian with its sexual meaning has succeeded in establishing itself in all world languages, it added: "Instead, we have been forced to avoid its use, fearing that we will be socially misunderstood and ridiculed both within Greece and internationally."

The legal action calls on the court to force the lesbian homosexual association to change its name within ten days of a verdict, or else to impose one-year imprisonment terms and a fine of 10,000 for each of its executive members as a means of forcing compliance.

The OLKE association also issued a statement yesterday describing the legal action as "groundless" and a "violation of freedom of expression". It said the Greek lesbian women would fight the case in court.

WOMEN IN LOVE

SAPPHO was born between 630 BC and 612 BC, and died around 570 BC. The bulk of her poetry has been lost, but her reputation has endured through surviving fragments.

Sappho's poetry revolves around passion and love for various personages and genders. The narrators of many of her poems speak of love for various women, but descriptions of physical acts between women are few and subject to debate.