Greek island Lesbos wants to ban the term 'lesbian'

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The word ‘lesbian’ supposedly originated from a mythological goddess and poet called Sappho, who hailed from Lesbos. Sappho expressed her love of other women in poetry written during the 7th century B.C.

As it was first used in the late 16th century, the word lesbian was the capitalized adjectival term referring to the Greek island of Lesbos. Its connotation of “female homosexuality” was added in the late 19th century, when an association was made with the tender and often passionate poetry written by Lesbian poet Sappho (c. 610–c. 580 bc) to and about other women in her female coterie.

The Lesbos islanders, however, are offended by the usage and they claim only they have the exclusive right to use the word. They are planning to file a case against the local gay rights organization from using the word “lesbian."

The activists said if they win the case, they plan to fight the word “lesbian” internationally.

The islanders want to avoid the confusion posed by the word “lesbian” whether it means gay women only or the 100,000 people living in Lesbos in Greece and 250,000 expatriates from Lesbos.

The case is led by Dimitiris Lambrou, a publisher in Lesbos who says that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.

In the court papers filed, it states that the Greek government is embarrassed to use the word “lesbian” and it was forced to rename the island after its capital, Mytilini.

The case will start soon and the judges will decide whether queer communities of Greece can use the word “lesbian."

Lambrou also claims that new historical research has found that the poet Sappho had a family and that she committed suicide rather for the love of a man. If those claims are proven to be true, encyclopedias like Britannica and Wikipedia will have to change their definition of the word “lesbian."

Who has the right to bear this word?