The Origins of Pornography

In May 2008, residents of the Greek island of Lesvos (Lesbos) filed suit in a court in Athens, Greece, asking the court to ban gay females from calling themselves “lesbians.” Brandishing a sign that read, “Silent no more! If you are not from Lesbos, you are not a lesbian!” the plaintiffs, led by magazine editor Dimitris Lambrou, claimed that the 100,000 residents of the Greek island of Lesbos, and the more than 250,000 Greeks who originated from the island, were the only true Lesbians. They asked the court to issue an injunction restraining the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE), the main gay organization in the country, from using the word “lesbian” in a sexual context (Anast, 2008). The residents of Lesbos claimed that the OLKE’s use of the name of their island and its inhabitants to describe female sexual preference was an insult to them and a “violation of their right to a national and regional identity” under European Union law. The men and women of Lesbos were “Lesbians,” but not “lesbians,” they claimed (Anast, 2008). Speaking in defense of the OLKE’s use of the term, a lesbian activist told the court that the lawsuit was “racist and ridiculous.” She said the word “lesbian” evolved from Greek history and mythology, not from an intent to insult people who originated from the island of Lesbos.