Source: Reuters, Telegraph, e Yugoslavia
ATHENS -- A Greek court last week ruled a gay rights group can use the word lesbian, saying people from the Aegean island of Lesbos did not have sole claim to the name.

Three islanders from Lesbos filed a lawsuit against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE) in April, accusing it of insulting locals, who are also called Lesbians.

"They insult our historical and geographical identity by using the name," said the lead plaintiff, Dimitris Lambrou. The islanders were seeking to have the group barred from using the word 'Lesbian' in its name.

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 controversial words at stake should not be seen as an insult to an individual's personality, nationality or social standing, and should not be taken as an individual or collective insult the people of Lesbos," said Judge Maria Petsali.

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 OLKE, told Reuters. "A court in Athens could not stop people around the world from using it. It was ridiculous."

Lambrou, who publishes a magazine on ancient Greek religion, expressed outrage at the ruling and vowed to fight on, reports London's The Telegraph.

"The decision by the court will not stop the effort of hundreds of thousands of Lesbian islanders to fight for the right to maintain their name separately from a that of a sexual deviation," he said. "It is a misguided ruling, so we have decided to take the matter to the highest courts both in Greece and Europe".

"The decision means that we will appeal instantly to a higher court and, at the appropriate time, to the European Court of Human Rights".

Evangelia Vlami, a lesbian activist, told the court: "Claiming that the word insults their history is racist and ridiculous," she told the court. "It is a word that has evolved harmlessly from history and mythology and under no circumstances is intended to offend the islanders or those many people around the world who originate from this island".

"After all," she added, "'Siamese twins is an internationally accepted term, and nobody thought of arguing that this term insults the people of Siam".

The islanders said they did not mind if lesbians use the terms "female homosexuals" or "gay women" to describe their sexual preferences, but insisted that using the name of the island and its people was a violation of their right to a national and regional identity.

But the court ruled that the word lesbian in its adopted Greek and international sexual context does not offend or threaten the individual, collective or human rights of the island's residents.

Full article: Lesbos islanders lose lesbian ban court case | Telegraph
Greek islanders lose lesbian case | e Yugoslavia
Greek court rules lesbians are not just from Lesbos | Reuters

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