by Rex Wockner
International News
Three residents of the Greek island of Lesbos who filed suit to reclaim the word "lesbian" and stop the group Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE) from using it lost their case July 22.
The plaintiffs claimed the alleged theft of "lesbian" from the island's residents amounted to "psychological and moral rape."
An Athens court found the claim baseless and ordered the trio to pay $363 in costs.
Plaintiff Dimitris Lambrou vowed to appeal the ruling.
Gay women are believed to have adopted the word in memory of Sappho, a poet who lived on the island in the sixth century B.C. and wrote about love between women.
