Inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos are taking the Greek Gay and Lesbian Union to court, arguing that the use of the term "Lesbian" for gay women has inflicted immense psychological harm on the residents of the island. Australia's Herald Sun reports that the case is promoted by Dimitris Lambrou, an activist on the island of Lesbos.

How this will affect tourism on Lesbos, long a kind of pilgrimage spot for gay women wanting to visit the home of famed poetess Sappho, is unclear.

Each year many women travel to Eressos and other places on the island in honor of the "10th Muse", as Plato called her. Sappho's poetry praises the loveliness of women, among them some of the students sent to her for education by prominent Greek families of the time.

Sappho herself is said to have died after throwing herself from a cliff over the lost love of a (male) sailor, but this may instead be a mangled memory of the ancient story of Britomartis, who was said to have hurled herself from a cliff to escape the attentions of a male pursuer, and who then had to fight off the advances of a fisherman who rescued her from the waters.

More recently, Sappho was the subject of a novel by American writer Erica Jong, who wrote "Sappho's Leap".

More:
Herald Sun: "We're the true Lesbians", say islanders.