Lesbos Islanders Disbute Lesbian Name
Posted on May 1, 2008
Filed Under Gay/Lesbian, News, Travel, Women | Comments Off on Lesbos Islanders Disbute Lesbian Name
As seen on BBC, campaigners on the Greek island of Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organization from using the term “lesbian“.
The islanders say that if they are successful they may then start to fight the word lesbian internationally.
The issue boils down to who has the right to call themselves Lesbians. Is it gay women, or the 100,000 people living on Greece’s third biggest island – plus another 250,000 expatriates who originate from Lesbos?
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. He says it causes daily problems to the social life of Lesbos’s inhabitants.
In court papers, the plaintiffs allege that the Greek government is so embarrassed by the term Lesbian that it has been forced to rename the island after its capital, Mytilini.
An early court date has now been set for judges to decide whether to grant an injunction against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece and to order it to change its name.
A spokeswoman for the group has described the case as a groundless violation of freedom of expression, and has pledged to fight it.
The term lesbian originated from the poet Sappho, who was a native of Lesbos. Sappho expressed her love of other women in poetry written during the 7th Century BC.
Outrage Over Semi-Nude Photo
Posted on April 30, 2008
Filed Under Arts/Culture, Women | 2 Comments
Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) posed for photos for Vanity Fair and it’s causing more anguish than necessary. Do we not have more important things to get riled up about? Like, the ongoing chaos in the Middle East? The surging price of gas? The visible increase of homeless people on on streets? I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about.
The media claims Miss Cyrus is setting a bad example for teens everywhere. Cyrus who’s a role model to millions of girls because of her squeaky clean good-girl image, has apologized profusely since the controversial photos became public this past weekend. We have seen this all before.
In 1980, Brooke Shields nude photographs caused an uproar. With the permission of her mother, her 10 year old body was shown nude in a bath, in full makeup. Photographer Gary Gross was later sued by Shields in the hopes of preventing him from displaying the photos. But, the courts ruled that Gross owned the rights to the photos which were displayed in Manhattan’s Fine Art Gallery in 1998.
In 2003, Britney Spears, role model to millions of adoring fans, shocked the world when she announced in W magazine that she was not a virgin after years of self- proclaimed chastity. Her innocent image began to wear thin, and well…the rest is history.
Publicity is the name of the game. Vanity Fair’s website received 4 million hits with voyeurs scrambling to catch a glimpse of the “scandalous” photo. Really, if you’ve seen a renaissance painting, you’ve seen this image. Only the perverted mind would find something titillating in this photo. If only the world reacted as strongly to the many photos of women that actually deserve some outrage.
Obama Courting Gay Voters?
Posted on April 27, 2008
Filed Under Advertising, Gay/Lesbian, Humor, Multimedia, Politics | Comments Off on Obama Courting Gay Voters?
On Gawker, Towleroad, and Mother Jones: Video footage of Obama making his concession speech (after losing Pennsylvania to Clinton last Tuesday) shows three guys, all clad in Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts. The one on the left seems particularly well-prepared for television coverage, his “Fitch” being the largest visible brand on the screen (even outsizing Obama’s own “Change” slogan). Is Obama reaching out to gay voters? Or is Abercrombie & Fitch expanding beyond the gay market?
From Gawker:
“Maybe it’s a plot by the Obama campaign to win back the gay community, which has something of a taste for the youth clothing retailer and, especially, its catalogs, but whose vote is basically owned by Hillary Clinton… Perhaps, instead, this is some kind of bizarre attempt at product placement by Abercrombie, trying to latch on to some of Obama’s rock-star appeal.”
Have a laugh! Happy Monday, ladies.
