# Lesbians (as in "Greek islanders") vs Lesbians (as in "girl-on-girl") **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 11, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931 "2008-05-11T16:47:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/1 "2008-05-11T16:47:48Z")
[Sun Sea and Sappho](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/08/gayrights.greece) > [@](#): > > Should only those born on the Greek island of Lesbos be allowed to call themselves lesbian? Yes, say some islanders embarrassed by the word’s more common usage… > Lesbians began to visit the island in the 70s, and have been coming back ever since. But now trouble is brewing. Three Lesbians (natives of the island of Lesbos) have submitted a legal challenge in an attempt to stop the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE) from using the term “lesbian”. The use of the word to denote a sexual preference derives from the island’s association with Sappho, the ancient poet who wrote about her love for women. But according to Dimitris Lambou, editor of the rightwing publication Davlos (Torch), and two female colleagues, using lesbian in this way “disgraces them around the world”; islanders, they say, are suffering “psychological and moral rape”… “Psychological and moral rape”? Yeah, sure, whatever… :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/2 "2008-05-11T16:58:23Z")
Well, I kinda feel for them. It must be annoying for a guy to proudly declare “I am a Lesbian” when asked where he’s from, and then spend twenty minutes having to hear the same tired jokes he’s no doubt hears every time he leaves his home island. Not that a lawsuit is going to change things. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/3 "2008-05-11T17:06:50Z")
It’s not like it’s a trade mark - how can the upper-case Lesbians control what lower-case lesbians choose to call themselves? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/4 "2008-05-11T17:36:18Z")
Is there a similar lawsuit pending on behalf of people who are happy and sprightly but not also homosexual? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/5 "2008-05-11T17:49:16Z")
I suspect this is only a minority of the population of Lesbos that feels this way. This isn’t exactly a definitive source, but awhile ago I was thumbing through a Lonely Planet guide to Greece (hey, I like travel guides and I like to pretend I could afford to go to Greece, which is WAY expensive) and the entry on Lesbos said that the islanders are cool with the lesbian associations and welcome lesbian visitors. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/6 "2008-05-11T18:22:22Z")
My travel book says that people from the island of Lesbos are now called Lesbosians. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/7 "2008-05-11T18:30:32Z")
I asked this in a similar thread & never got an answer- what term do Greeks in general & Lesbos-residents in particular use for homosexual females? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/8 "2008-05-11T19:20:06Z")
Isn’t this a bit like shutting the barn door after the horse has already run away? [QUOTE=FriarTed] I asked this in a similar thread & never got an answer- what term do Greeks in general & Lesbos-residents in particular use for homosexual females? [/QUOTE] “Lesbians who may or may not be Lesbians.” ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/9 "2008-05-11T20:12:03Z")
[Linky](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=466531) to a recent thread about this issue. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/10 "2008-05-12T12:52:37Z")
I think it would probably be less work to simply rename the island and everything that made reference to the old name, both on the island, and in the rest of the world. That is to say: impossible. Lawsuit to try to stop lesbians calling themselve lesbians: too little, too late. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/11 "2008-05-12T13:33:11Z")
It’s a good thing Sodom isn’t inhabited anymore. Imagine the lawsuits from _there_. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/12 "2008-05-12T15:06:13Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] the entry on Lesbos said that the islanders are cool with the lesbian associations and welcome lesbian visitors. [/QUOTE] “…I for one _welcome_ our new lesbian overlords.” I couldn’t help it. “Toil in their underground sugar caves” indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/13 "2008-05-12T22:12:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Lawsuit to try to stop lesbians calling themselve lesbians: too little, too late. [/QUOTE] To be fair, that’s not what the lawsuit is about: they’re trying to prevent a specific political organization from using “Lesbian” in its official name. They aren’t trying to prevent individual gay women from calling themselves lesbians. To be unfair, the people supporting this lawsuit are clearly a bunch of shit eating chicken fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/14 "2008-05-12T22:43:59Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] I suspect this is only a minority of the population of Lesbos that feels this way. This isn’t exactly a definitive source, but awhile ago I was thumbing through a Lonely Planet guide to Greece (hey, I like travel guides and I like to pretend I could afford to go to Greece, which is WAY expensive) and the entry on Lesbos said that the islanders are cool with the lesbian associations and welcome lesbian visitors. [/QUOTE] I gather the Lesbians are also quite cool on seperating lesbians from their money. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/15 "2008-05-13T02:14:04Z")
And let us not forget all the male ladybugs. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/16 "2008-05-19T13:16:14Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] “…I for one _welcome_ our new lesbian overlords.” [/QUOTE] As long as they govern in an open and transparent manner. (i.e. I get to watch) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/17 "2008-05-19T13:40:38Z")
That Saturday afternoon quiz show on NPR had an item about this last weekend. One of the panelists wondered if we’d be hearing, “I’m a Lesbian, my father was a Lesbian, and my grandfather was a Lesbian…” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/18 "2008-05-19T13:49:38Z")
Coming soon to an Onion near you… Residents of Kentucky to sue manufacturers of KY Jelly. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesbians-as-in-greek-islanders-vs-lesbians-as-in-girl-on-girl/448931/19 "2008-05-19T14:12:45Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] “Toil in their underground sugar caves” indeed. [/QUOTE] Nice work, if you can get it.