Campaigners on the Greek island of Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organisation from using the term "lesbian".To add to your problems, Dimitris, we're all laughing at you now, you whiny Lesbian.
The islanders say that if they are successful they may then start to fight the word lesbian internationally....
The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.
He says it causes daily problems to the social life of Lesbos's inhabitants.
May 1, 2008
Lesbians versus lesbians.
BBC reports:
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45 comments:
Those Greeks jealously hang on to their ancient trademarks. The homosexual women should look what happened to FYROM, and start thinking of a new name.
Well good luck to them, but even if they win it still doesn't help the poor souls who live in Lake Titicaca.
Obviously a Cretan.
Note to self:
Never read one of trooper's comments with a drink in your hand.
They have very strict rules on the Isle of Lesbos. Did you know that they won't let any little Dutch boys on to the island because of several untoward incidents?
Which on of you here is a conspiratorial Turk?
Look on the bright side, even if the lesbians take a licking it's still a win-win.
Those Greeks jealously hang on to their ancient trademarks
True, as the poor people of Macedonia are experiencing.
WARNING: The comment that follows is useless without a link.
I searched teh intertubes but I couldn’t find a picture of an old B. Kliban cartoon. Jason and the Argonauts have just grounded their ship ashore and they’re greeting the natives. The sailors have these silly, hopeful grins on their faces and the natives are all women standing around scowling at the men. The caption reads something like “Great little island you’ve got here. Lesbos, huh? Say, what do you girls do for fun?”
A peer of the gods he seems to me, the man who sits over against you face to face, listening to the sweet tones of your voice and the liveliness of your laughing; it is this that sets my heart fluttering in my breast. For if I gaze on you but for a little while, I am no longer master of my voice, and my tongue lies useless, and a delicate flame runs over my skin. No more do I see with my eyes, and my ears are filled with uproar. The sweat pours down me, I an seized with trembling, and I grow paler than the grass. My strength fails me, and I seem little short of dying.
Sappho, cited by Longinus, On the Sublime, ch. 10, trans T.S.Dorsch.
My understanding is that it's been cleaned up a little, maybe for the tastes of the times.
Rhys translation
Trooper: I'd bet you remember why they punished the Cub Scout when he wandered in the kitchen while the Girl Scouts were preparing for their bake sale.
You have to be carefull when you eat a Brownie.
Hey Big Brown might win the Derby.
Cool.
For the record:
If tomorrow, I was to awake and find that I had turned into a woman, I would become a lesbian.
So what do the Lesbian lesbians think about this? Or should I say, the lesbian Lesbians?
Ann Althouse: To add to your problems, Dimitris, we're all laughing at you now, you whiny Lesbian.
Isn't that a redundancy?
Look on the bright side, even if the lesbians take a licking it's still a win-win.
I heard they allow lesbians to get married on Lesbos as long as they pay a small fee and get a licker license.
All kidding aside, we should honor our lesbian sisters and let them know they have an honored and treasured place in our society. They make a vital contribution to our lives. Without them we would be bereft of cargo pants, ugly sandals, the cultivation of the Pete Rose haircut and two thirds of my personal DVD library. Ladies I tip my cap to you. Good bless you and keep you safe.
(I really mean the last part).
whiny Lesbian.
Isn't that a redundancy?
Most Lesbians I have known have been quite taciturn, and even the chatty ones never complained.
Very true, they are very honest and forthright and say what they mean and mean what they say. But those freakin' Lebanese, man they never stop bitching. You can't walk past a cafe on Atlantic Avenue without them yapping about something. Jeez.
Helen Thomas is a Lebanese. Nuff said.
Who's claiming the rights to "carpet muncher"?
Obviously a Cretan.
LOL! What is it with Althouse readers and Hellenistic yuks?
Awesome.
Cheers,
Victoria
Personally, I think Kos should take a leaf out of the Lesbian playbook.
He should sue the island of Kos for name infringement too.
And then throw a great big fat Greek party with dildos and stuff on Lesbos.
Cheers,
Victoria
Marlo Thomas is both Lebanese and a Thespian.
Did you know that they won't let any little Dutch boys on to the island
Trooper, that reminds me of a popular French Quarter t-shirt from the past:
New Orleans: serviced by ferries, protected by dykes.
So will they sue again if we start referring to ourselves as sapphic?
It's always great when the French Quarter is heard from. I heard the Jazz fest was great this year.
Wouldn't it just be easier to change the name of the island? Call it Heteros or something.
If you lived on one side of the island and loved someone on the other side would you be bi-coastal?
I wish they would reclaim "gay" while they are at it.
What's wrong with "queer"?
Does Lesbos have a Queer Street?
And is it filled with bankrupt gays?
Cheers,
Victoria
I doubt the Greeks will find much success with their lawsuit.
The citizens of Mianus, Connecticut, a hamlet nestled in the gluteal fold of Mianus Pond and near the county seat, have for years similarly fought a rearguard action, trying to wipe clean the stain upon their name, those enemas of the people who mock that fair community, those dingleberries who excrete vile pantloads of "humor" about their name.
But all to no avail. The legal expenses nearly made them go arse over tip. So they ultimately decided to bend over and take it like a man.
At least, that's what Titus told me.
Ann Althouse:
In southern Germany there is a village called "Petting". Rather worse, in the north and southwest of the country are two places called "Deppendorf" and "Deppenhausen" (literally idiot`s village and home of the idiots).
Of course in the world of business one has seen worse. Why did the Mitsubishi Pajero not sell well in Spain and the Toyota MR2 in France ? The first one is a derogatory slang term with a sexual connotation, the second (if pronounced fast in French) a scatological one. That s why we have "naming consultancies" now.
Maybe the poor fellow should ask for help there.
I am guessing the Lesbian have one hell of a softball league.
Those islanders should just face up to the fact that they are all a bunch of Lesbians. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Besides, isn't it normally an honor to have someone claim residence? Were not the residents of Berlin pleased by JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner"
What's "I am a Lesbian" in Greek?
William said...
Wouldn't it just be easier to change the name of the island? Call it Heteros or something.
Great idea!
You can't dispell 3,000 years of...errr...lesbian tradition..but you can change a name!
Pogo - The citizens of Mianus, Connecticut, a hamlet nestled in the gluteal fold of Mianus Pond and near the county seat
It gets worse. The Mianus river carved out a deep valley known locally as Mianus Gorge. Speaking of tossed salads in Connecticut!
And the bridge that collapsed 25 years ago? That was the "Mianus Bridge tragedy". When I lived in CT we went shad fishing on the Mianus River. Even saw a sign at an upscale Greenwich eatery during the shad run: "Shad Roe special. Fresh from Mianus!"
Meanwhile, in Latin America, the "dirty Sanchez" is being protested. "Why not the dirty Abdullah? Or the Dirty Wjalimir?"
If this lawsuit succeeds, every dyke in Holland is sittin' there, waitin' with an attorney!
Looks like the Greek Government has tried to rename the island Mytilini, but it hasn't stuck. Maybe they need to have a contest. Drum up some publicity, encourage tourism.
How about they rename it 'Martina'?
I do care about Mianus, but couldn't care less about Uranus.
I once saw a really good movie about the Island of Lesbos, one of those straight to video productions and I was unaware that there were so many blondes in the eastern Mediterranean.
Actually they were going to name it Billie Jean, but they didn't when they found out that the chair was not their son.
"I wish they would reclaim "gay" while they are at it."
Quite the problem in Gays Mills, Wisconsin. 'Straights Mills' just doesn't sound right.
I didn't see this anywhere, but Eugene Volokh has a couple of posts on the subject:
Life Imitates the Volokh Conspiracy,
Lesbos
Mianus is a tough name to top, but may I remind you of this lovely Austrian village?
"Bitte! Nicht so schnell!"
Wonderful sense of humour, Austrians.
Cheers,
Victoria
In the years before the Peloppenesian War, Lesbos was one of the few Greek islands that maintained its own fleet in the Delian League controlled by the Athenians. Almost all the other League members sent tribute to the treasury at Delos which the Athenians periodically withdrew to build the Parthenon, among other things.
blissage said...
Kligan cartoon
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