Campaigners on the Greek island of Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organisation from using the term "lesbian".
The islanders say that if they are successful they may then start to fight the word lesbian internationally.
The issue boils down to who has the right to call themselves Lesbians.
Is it gay women, or the 100,000 people living on Greece's third biggest island - plus another 250,000 expatriates who originate from Lesbos?
Snicker. I can just picture a male BBC reporter inflecting that question- "Yes, who DOES have the right?"
The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.
No, Dimitri, human rights are things like a fair trial and not getting your hands chopped off because you voted for the wrong guy. Awkward moments when you proudly proclaim "I'm a Lesbian!" might be annoying, but that's about it.
He says it causes daily problems to the social life of Lesbos's inhabitants.
Really? Why? Presumably the islanders know what they mean when they use it.
In court papers, the plaintiffs allege that the Greek government is so embarrassed by the term Lesbian that it has been forced to rename the island after its capital, Mytilini.
This from the civilization that taught us all the joys of catamitism? What happened to you, Greece, you used to be cool.
5 comments:
LOL - I think they're a little late on this one.
And given that it's a term in common usage, now, not just a corporation name or something, (umm, anyone contesting "Nike"?), I doubt they have a chance.
It's got at least as much merit as the Greek claim that another country can't be named "Macedonia."
Next week, people from Dalmatia enraged because people are confusing them with dogs that ride in firetrucks.
You should know...
The NPR show "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" used this story on their game called "Bluff the listener". In this game, the contenstant is told three outrageous stories, one of which is true. This is the only time I can remember in my many years of listening to the show that I have actually known the answer.
"I am a gay American. And I couldn't be gayer now that the gays are on the run. Of course, I'm using 'gay' the way our Founding Fathers intended, to mean 'happy,' before it was stolen from them by the gays, just like they stole their tights, wigs, and codpieces." -- Stephen Colbert
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