but

First of all, there is no disgrace in being a lesbian.

Say a MINUTE percentage of humans, mostly lesbians.

At some colleges, in fact, there is disgrace in not being a lesbian.

10 or 20 institutions of higher learning out of 2900 maybe?

Second of all, what is this human rights violation?

The right to not have one's property devalued because shameful gay activists, who would turn society upside down to serve their agenda, use the term as a signifier of man-hatred.

[Just a caveat, I actually support gay rights. I do NOT support society considering gay and straight on equal footing though. Think of it this way, I like ditch diggers and heartily supporrt fair wages for ditch diggers, but they are NOT brain surgeons and should not get paid brain surgeon wages.]

Just a caveat, I actually support gay rights. I do NOT support society considering gay and straight on equal footing though.

What he's actually saying:

I actually support gay rights, I just don't consider them as good as "real" people" And by support, I mean I don't mind them as long as they stay out of sight. And by rights I mean as long as they know their place.

Are they saying that the Isle of Lesbos is not, in fact, a haven of sun-drenched girl-on-girl action?

I have nothing left to believe in.

The Greeks are also up in arms about the use of the name "Macedonia".

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10879850

At some colleges, in fact, there is disgrace in not being a lesbian.

Uh...what? Anyone care to explain this? What colleges consider being straight or bi a disgrace? Blatant prejudice in a college, why would anyone accept that?

Can't the folks from Lesbos be called Lesbosians?

And brightstar, that argument about ditch diggers and brain surgeons made perfect sense. Perhaps, too, we can see about curtailing the First Amendment rights of ditch diggers vis a vis brain surgeons, cuz, like, they're ditch diggers, y'know?

There's no such thing as gay rights. There's only human rights. So, finally, it all comes down to whom you consider human, y'know?

There is a long standing dispute between Greece and the new post Yugoslavia state of Macedonia unless Macedonia changed it's name (Macedonia is a name of northern Greece, I believe). Maybe this is a Greece thing. Maybe Kansas should declare that Kansas City, MO must change it's name?

This is three residents of Lesbos, just getting a little publicity. Most people who live there (my grandfather grew up there) have no problem with the word "lesbian" and think it's funny and sweet. There is a statue of Sappho on the town square in the capital, and all sorts of people pose for pictures in front of her, all day long.

And, all my life I'd learned that people on Lesbos were indeed called Lesbosians.

..LOL! I'm sorry, but this article struck me as very funny, and not just because of the serious outrage of the denizens of Lesbos (which I do find very amusing, BTW). Their entire argument is very... perplexing and quite ironic.

The origin of the word Lesbian comes from their island! It's history! So unless they want to re-write history [which a lot of fundamentalists might want to do--most of Sappho's poems (the original "Lesbian" female poet who wrote love poems to other women) have been destroyed in the passing ages] they should get over it and move on with life.

...because the natives of the Caucasus region don't like people using their name.

And lets not forget the folks in the Neander valley...

Utterly ridiculous.

Athens OH & GA, plus every high school and college sports team calling themselves "Spartans."

And yet you have the citizens of towns like Dildo, Newfoundland and Uren, Saskatchewan practically reveling in their town names. A much more sensible attitude, really.

The $500 million lawsuit against Matt Groening for denigrating the good name of Homer.

Next, of course, there will be lawsuits for those of us who are happy and mostly carefree. We want our word back.

It seem for me that Greece is still extreme upset about man-boy pederasty thingy in ancient Greece where gay go total mainstream and Sophocles write civilization's first musical comedy.

Unfortunate, Lesbos' flail against word lesbian is just the equally homophobic flip side of this ancient coin.

Svutlana

I object to the use of the term "homo" and "homosexual!" Keep your hands off our prefix!

What he's actually saying:

I actually support gay rights, I just don't consider them as good as "real" people" And by support, I mean I don't mind them as long as they stay out of sight. And by rights I mean as long as they know their place.

I would not consider nudists equal to non nudists either. There are more right and less right ways to live.

There is in your face nudism and discreet nudism.

I do not buy this lib thing that every lifestyle, no matter how extreme, is equivalent to every other (except of course white hetero lifestyles, which are to be considered eeeevil, per feminist doctrine).

But, I also do not like the idea of shutting down other people's lifestyles either.

So, there MUST be a decent compromise, musn't there?

I have been to Lesbos, many years ago, and it is a pretty interesting place with lots of history and a petrified forest. Like any tourist destination, there is nothing better for the economy than getting its name in the news, preferably for free.

The Lesbians seem to have succeeded admirably.

The word "lesbian" is one of the most Googled words in the dictionary and now if you Google it, you will find plenty of mentions of the island that was the birthplace of the poetess Sappho, and which remains a popular tourist destinations for women who love women.

If the residents of Lesbos think they have it hard, they might want to be thankful that they don't live on the Greek mainland, as the word "Greek" is often used as a polite term for anal sex--or in the island of Crete, whose resident Cretans are often confused with cretins.