Published in: July-August 2008 issue.
Land of Lesbians The people who live on the Greek island of Lesbos are Lesbians by virtue of their place of residence but not their sexual orientation. This possible source of confusion has been around for a long time, but until now the Lesbian islanders have endured in silence any insult to their heterosexual creds. Perhaps they just didn’t know whom to sue, or the thought of suing someone hadn’t occurred to them. But now a group of islanders has taken their grievance to a court in Athens, where they’ve filed a lawsuit against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, the only officially registered gay group in Greece whose name uses the word lesbian. The plaintiffs are seeking to compel the group to remove the word from its name. Commented one of the three plaintiffs: “Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos.” Or do they? It seems the island of Lesbos has become a magnet for lesbian tourists from around the world, who make pilgrimages to the poet Sappho’s reputed village of Eressos. So the island seems to have acquired a quite tangible connection to these “ladies,” whether the native Lesbians like it or not. (And consider the tourist euros!)
