There was a court decision in Greece today, where some homophobic residents of the island of Lesbos sued to limit the word "Lesbian" to themselves, and the court disagreed.
The court simply said that the word "Lesbian" does not define the identity of the residents of Lesbos, and that the word is free to be used by gay women throughout Greece and elsewhere.
Of course, Lesbos is closely identified with gay women, due to the poet Sappho, a resident of the Eresos village on the island, writing poems in admiration of other women. In fact, some residents make a good living off of the lesbians on pilgrimage - which should hopefully include me in the near future. Those residents were against the drive to limit the word "Lesbian" to themselves.
For now, I am glad to know that the label "lesbian" continues to apply to me.
MSNBC
BBC
Online Lesbos travel guide
