Not all Lesbians are from Lesbos

no_I_am_zoe — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:26:23 -0500

Three citizens from the Greek Island of Lesbos, or three Lesbians, have filed a law suite against one of their local organizations, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, to ban use of the word 'lesbian,' as in sexual orientation, in the organization's name. The plaintiff's hope in winning the law suite is to use the ruling to wage an international fight to ban use of the word 'lesbian' for anything other than to describe a person from the Isle of Lesbos.

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."
-from The Scotsman article Islanders ask court to ban gay use of the word 'lesbian'

The Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece responded by saying they would fight it in court.

Vlami, the gay group spokeswoman, said any misunderstanding can easily be resolved through linguistics.
"Most people from Lesbos prefer to use the word Mytilene, which is the more ancient version and because some people may be afraid of being misunderstood," she said. "I don't see what the problem is ... Can't a woman just say: I am from the island of Lesbos?" -from CNN article Lesbos ladies launch law suite

The plaintiffs are calling for the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece to drop the word 'lesbian' from their name within 10 days of the verdict, or face a one year imprisonment and a $10,000 fine for each executive member if they do not comply. Seems rather drastic to me.

So who should have the rights to the word lesbian? On the one hand, I can sort of understand why the people of Lesbos would be upset, I know there are people who would be offended by the thought someone might think them gay. But, and I could be wrong here, I would think that in the context you would generally use the word Lesbian, one from Lesbos, the meaning would be understood and not mistaken. Kind of like how I might say I'm a Hoosier, one from Indiana. I can't think of a situation where that might come up in conversation and someone not know I meant to denote my state of residence. And if I were talking to someone who I thought wouldn't know what I meant by Hoosier, I would just say that I'm from Indiana.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this law suite. If the plaintiffs are successful, I think it would be funny if the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece changed their name to the HLCG, and branded it. It would be kind of like how Kentucky Fried Chicken changed their name to KFC. Even though we all know KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken, that's not their name, their name is KFC.

Even if the plaintiffs are successful in abolishing use of the word lesbian, meaning sexual orientation, in Greece, to think that use of the word by the rest of the world could be completely abolished, is just plain crazy and unrealistic. It just won't happen. I hear their gripe, I get it. But it's not happening.

I don't really have any sort of attachment to the word lesbian, so it wouldn't really bother me if it disappeared from the American vernacular. I've always preferred to say "I'm gay," to saying, "I'm a lesbian." I don't know, it just seems like saying "I'm gay" is just one of the many things about me, but saying, "I'm a lesbian" is like defining myself. Kind of like the difference in saying "I'm athletic" verses "I'm an athlete," or "I'm artistic" verses "I'm artist." It's a silly distinction, I know, but I've never wanted my sexuality to define me.

I don't really know what word I would use to replace lesbian. I've never really cared for the word dyke. I guess it still jsut holds too much negative conotation for me to want to use it. The other tems I could think of are, um, too crude and I just couldn't see them catching on. Maybe one of you have a better term. What word would you replace lesbian with?

Other lesbos who wrote about this-yes I'm just poking the bear with a stick now:
Deb, who blogs at Deb on the Rocks, wrote Lesbians' Day are Numbered
Riayn, who blogs at Dancing About Architecture, wrote Banning the word lesbian
The PD, who blogs at Deliberate Ramblings, wrote Bringing sexy back to Lesbos
Miss Vicki who blogs at God Is A Dyke, wrote You Might Be Gay but You're Not a Lesbian

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Not all Lesbians are from Lesbos