Court Rules Lesbians Are Not Just From Lesbos

[DeSwiss]

Court rules lesbians are not just from Lesbos

Reuters
July 22, 2008


ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek court has dismissed a request by residents of the Aegean island of Lesbos to ban the use of the word lesbian to describe gay women, according to a court ruling made public on Tuesday. Three residents of Lesbos, the birthplace of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho whose love poems inspired the term lesbian, brought a case last month arguing the use of the term in reference to gay women insulted their identity.

In a July 18 decision, the Athens court said the word did not define the identity of the residents of the island, and so it could be validly used by gay groups in Greece and abroad. The ruling ordered the plaintiffs to pay court expenses of 230 euros ($366.2).

"This is a good decision for lesbians everywhere," Vassilis Chirdaris, lawyer for the Gay and Lesbian Union of Greece, told Reuters. "A court in Athens could not stop people around the world from using it. It was ridiculous." He said the plaintiffs were free to appeal the decision in a higher court.

Lesbos, which lies just off the Turkish Coast, has become a gathering spot for gay women from around the world, especially at the village of Eressos which is regarded as the birthplace of the poet in the 7th century B.C. Several residents testified during the trial that the use of the word lesbian had brought recognition to the island and boosted its tourist trade.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080722/od_nm/lesbians_dc">LINK

- They had nothing to complain about to start with. Just think if they lived http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking_austria">here
==============================================================================
DeSwiss


http://www.atheisttoolbox.com/">The Atheist Toolbox

[TlalocW]

1. I remember reading the Iliad in high school

And as part of some sort of tribute to Agamemnon, some of "those marvelous maidens from Lesbos," were included.

TlalocW

[DeSwiss]

2. Yeah, I remember that....

...back when I was in HS, they wouldn't let us read any of the parts of any story that had anything to do with sex in them. NOTHING.

For our senior trip they took us to see Romeo and Juliet. And when it got to the bedroom scene, Coach Forehand put his notebook over the projector's lens.

- And we've all been scarred by that, ever since......

[TlalocW]

3. Huh...

We were told to choose a book to write a report on as a kind of Junior project, and I chose the Iliad. Halfway through the book, I realized how easy the report was going to be as every time Greek Mythology was touched on in school, it was always pride that was a character's downfall. So I wrote about four of the main characters' pride leading to their downfalls and was told by the teacher to hold onto a copy of what I had written because I could just turn it in again when I went to college.

The same teacher also showed us, "The Name of the Rose," which has a sex scene between a young Christian Slater and a peasant girl. He shut it off when that scene came up and fast-forwarded. Alas, fast-forwarding technology for 1989-era VCRs was not exact, and we got a shot of breast before he turned it off and fast-forwarded it again, and that became all the boys' favorite class for a week. :)

Of course, sex ed in health class (taught by the football coach) consisted of, "Okay, next chapter... reproductive health. *Pause* Okay, anyone here NOT know? All right, moving on. Next chapter, dental hygiene."

I kid but not by much.

TlalocW

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

5. If I were a sex ed teacher it would be Alfred Kinsey style

I'd teach about stimulation techniques, sexual chemistry, masturbation, birth control, rape prevention, and a history of the gay equality movement.

[Q3JR4]

6. Me too.

The best way to prepare people to face their futures is to give them all the knowledge they need to live their lives fully and safely.

You know that if two young people are willing there's not an awful lot anyone would be able to do to keep them from experimenting. Give them the knowledge they need, ensure access to condoms or dental dams, and trust that they'll do the best they can. They're going to do it either way, may as well be safe.

Case in point: when I was younger I would have screwed toast if someone mentioned the possibility that it would do anything for me.

Q3JR4.

Edited to add:
a bunch of related stuff.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

4. When I was a little kid I didn't know what small-l lesbian meant

I actually heard the name Lesbos long before I ever heard "lesbian" and actually assumed that it just had something to do with the Greek island. It was a year or so later that I learnt the other meaning. Not until about 6th grade, maybe even the very start of 7th!