How quaint, unnecessary and unpleasant. Especially this bit:
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.
I can see that the locals might get fed up of leery English tourists cracking jokes, but is a gagging order really going to stop that? All they would do if they won would be to invite the same sunburned tourists to taunt them further (playground psychology 101).
Or are the 350,000 extant Lesbosians worried the the rest of the world assumes they are *gasp* gay? What would their parents say!!? Oh wait, their parents are from Lesbos, right…
Fortunately this is all very silly, and unlikely to have much effect on the precariously Foucouldian world of lesbian labels. For a start, they’re unlikely to win, even if they did they would struggle to enforce any changes. Plus the Beeb doesn’t mention how many people are supporting Mr Lambrou in his cause – might be a one man crusade.
Final thought; what other Greek island has been so quick to look the gift horse of an ancient goddess in the mouth? Think of the tourist board marketing opportunities…
