Greek court allows "lesbians"

BEIJING, July 24 -- A Greek court has dismissed a request by residents of the Aegean island of Lesbos to ban the use of the word lesbian to describe gay women, according to a court ruling made public on Tuesday.

Three residents of Lesbos, the birthplace of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho whose love poems inspired the term lesbian, brought a case arguing the use of the term insulted their identity.

The Athens court said the word did not define the identity of the residents of the island, and so it could be validly used by gay groups in Greece and abroad.

(Source: China Daily)