We're the true Lesbians, say islanders

[Ferran]

We're the true Lesbians, say islanders

From correspondents in Athens
April 30, 2008 02:07am

RESIDENTS of the Greek island of Lesbos have launched a legal case against a gay group, insisting they are the real Lesbians.

Two inhabitants of the island of Lesbos along with a member of a nationalist pagan association today launched a legal case to ban the Greek Gay and Lesbian Union (OLKE) from bearing the name "lesbian".

Lesbos was the home of the poet Sappho, who expressed her love of other women in lyric verses written in the early sixth century BC.

Lesbos residents now suffer "psychological and moral rape" from the "seizure" of their island's name by gays, said the activist Dimitris Lambrou, in a text titled The Misfortune of Being Lesbian, published on his website.

Mr Lambrou believed the case will be judged in Athens in June.

"This affair is totally ridiculous," said OLKE spokeswoman Evangelia Vlami. "But if we are summoned by the courts, we will be heard."

Lesbos is often referred to in Greece as Mytilene, the island's capital. The resort of Eressos is a popular tourist destination for lesbians visiting the Aegean island in the northeast of the Orthodox Christian country.



Source: We\'re the true Lesbians, say islanders | Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania

[Gnist]

RESIDENTS of the Greek island of Lesbos have launched a legal case against a gay group, insisting they are the real Lesbians.

More serious than it sounds.

I remember how, when I first heard it in literature class, I wondered why homosexual women aren't called sapphians instead. We get the picture that all women on Lesbos were homosexual back when the term was coined.

That with time I have come to accept this verbal abuse, to the point that I thought the complainants must be homosexual women, who wanted to be very important homosexual women - it just proves once more how wrong it is.

[Menydh]

Reminds me of one event in England, where one guy who was homosexual was removed from a bedsite in a building because of the squalor which he had left it, with the consequent disgust of all other bedsitters in that building. He denounced the agency for harassment and homophobia. Fortunately he did not know my name, as it was me who was in in charge of the 'removal'. As the letter from the courts arrived, the agency owner sent an answer properly explaining the reasons why he had been removed from the bedsit and how the squalor that he had created was degrading the building and life for other bedsitters, adding a few paragraphs along the following lines (the brackets are my addition):

".. we do not like queer [old for 'odd', 'weird', 'bizarre'] situations ... and we are not gay [old for 'merry', 'happy'] with such a situation ..."

Surprisingly enough, the case was archived.

[Kernunnos]

Originally Posted by NatVox

Reminds me of one event in England, where one guy who was homosexual was removed from a bedsite in a building because of the squalor which he had left it, with the consequent disgust of all other bedsitters in that building. He denounced the agency for harassment and homophobia. Fortunately he did not know my name, as it was me who was in in charge of the 'removal'. As the letter from the courts arrived, the agency owner sent an answer properly explaining the reasons why he had been removed from the bedsit and how the squalor that he had created was degrading the building and life for other bedsitters, adding a few paragraphs along the following lines (the brackets are my addition):

".. we do not like queer [old for 'odd', 'weird', 'bizarre'] situations ... and we are not gay [old for 'merry', 'happy'] with such a situation ..."

Surprisingly enough, the case was archived.

Nice times when fully fetys meant not fetish but very beautiful ...

[Marulus]

Originally Posted by NatVox

Reminds me of one event in England, where one guy who was homosexual was removed from a bedsite in a building

Are you referring to something like a dormitory or usual building with apartments in it? If it was only a bedsit...

Originally Posted by NatVox

because of the squalor which he had left it, with the consequent disgust of all other bedsitters in that building.

What was the nature of that squalor? Only dirt and extreme untidiness or something more? Was it confined only to his bedsit (it means a room wiith bed, if I am not mistaken?), or he was spreading it to the corridors?

Originally Posted by NatVox

He denounced the agency for harassment and homophobia.

How convenient! He could have accused the agency owning the building also of squalorophobia.

Originally Posted by NatVox

".. we do not like queer [old for 'odd', 'weird', 'bizarre'] situations ... and we are not gay [old for 'merry', 'happy'] with such a situation ..."

The owner of the agency had a good sense of humour, obviously. Since those words had lost their original meaning long ago.

Originally Posted by NatVox

Surprisingly enough, the case was archived.

I doubt it would have been archived today (this happened in the nineties, I guess). Today there would be hordes of activists gathering before the building and hysterically shrieking, denouncing the "injustice" perpetrated against one person belonging to one among the several sacred minorities of the modern society.

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Are you referring to something like a dormitory or usual building with apartments in it? If it was only a bedsit...

Sorry, I meant bedsit obviously.

What was the nature of that squalor? Only dirt and extreme untidiness or something more? Was it confined only to his bedsit (it means a room wiith bed, if I am not mistaken?), or he was spreading it to the corridors?

Both dirt and extreme untidiness, apart from personal dirt and untidiness. Take into account that showers and toilettes were shared among bedsitters.

I doubt it would have been archived today (this happened in the nineties, I guess). Today there would be hordes of activists gathering before the building and hysterically shrieking, denouncing the "injustice" perpetrated against one person belonging to one among the several sacred minorities of the modern society.

Well, it is not like there were not already "activists" behind the agency already. Namely the infamous Searchlight magazine among others. Just this particular case did not transcend the exchange of letters. And yes, this was around 1991 as far as I can recall.

[Errigal]

I do resent how the word "gay" was stolen. Because it means "colourful, fun, cheerful" it was used by many authors and poets and so quite a few works have their original meaning perverted.

[Gnist]

Originally Posted by Errigal

I do resent how the word "gay" was stolen. Because it means "colourful, fun, cheerful" it was used by many authors and poets and so quite a few works have their original meaning perverted.

I agree. It's almost impossible to use that word nowadays without it becoming weirdness one way or the other.

The swedish word for homosexual is similar to the english word "bug". It is also used as a rather random derogatory, as well as - after the homohype - to mean something like fiend, maniac or nerd. For example, someone who always needs to have the latest technical gear is a "thing-bug".