Gay women have been called lesbians for over two hundred years. On the island of Lesbos a few cranky residents want to turn back the linguistic clock:
For residents of the Greek Island of Lesbos the struggle to protect their identity has gone on long enough and now three of these residents have asked the court to order the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece to drop the “L” word.
Residents of Lesbos are commonly identified as Lesbians, an identity that has existed for thousands of years, and it seems the confusion with gay groups who have adopted the name over the past few decades has caused enough grief that change is needed. According to plaintiff Dimitris Lambrou “My sister can’t say she is a Lesbian. Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos.”
The three plaintiffs, two of whom are women, insist that their problem is not with gay rights nor is their plea a target of hate but rather a quest to regain their Lesbian identity. The lawsuit, which will be heard in June, targeted the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece because it is the only officially registered gay group in Greece to use the word in its name.
Robert Crombie finds his new film, Sappho, under attack:
“I was astonished at the level of the hatred in that room,” Crombie said later. Adelaja’s criticism centered on the film’s elements of homosexuality — Sappho was an ancient Greek poet who wrote on passion for both sexes, and Lesbos, the island where she was born, is the origin of the word “lesbian.” Crombie felt his work had been misunderstood: “It was like the sky had fallen in. I didn’t feel I had made a gay film, but rather a film about love.”
Love on the Isle of Lesbos
