The word "lesbian" does not define the identity of the Greek island Lesbos' residents, therefore, it cannot be perceived as an insult, an Athens court ruled on July 23, Reuters news agency reported.

About a month ago, the issue was brought to public attention when three residents of the island sought legal support in restricting gay rights organisations from using the word in referring to sexual orientation. The locals thought it was "disgraceful" and an insult to their identity.

"This is a good decision for lesbians everywhere," Vassilis Chirdaris, lawyer for the Gay and Lesbian Union of Greece, said, as quoted by Reuters.

The plaintiffs, on the other hand, had said that gay organisations used the island's geographical name for "social action" and the dispute was over identity, not sexuality.

Associated Press quoted plaintiffs earlier as saying that the term `lesbian' caused embarrassment to the women of Lesbos, who did not want to call themselves Lesbians for "fear of being considered gay".

As previously reported by The Sofia Echo, Aksinia Gencheva, an executive director of the Bulgarian gay organisation Gemini said that there was nothing shameful about the word lesbian. She pointed out that Greece's revenue from gay tourism amounted to 1.7 billion euro a year, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency bgnes.com. Nobody seemed to be complaining about that, she said.

It is accepted that the term "lesbian" was invented by the Greek poet Sappho, a native of Lesbos. She lived during the 7th century BCE, and crafted love poetry expressing her feelings to other women.

Some say, however, that a new historical research, so far unconfirmed, reveals that Sappho actually had a family and ended her life suffering from unrequited love for a man.