◎俞智敏

Campaigners on the Greek island of Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organisation from using the term "lesbian".

希臘萊斯沃斯島上的運動人士正向法院提告，企圖阻止一同志權益組織使用lesbian一詞。

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?

這項爭議簡而言之，就是誰才有權自稱為Lesbians的問題。到底是女同志，還是住在希臘第3大島上的10萬居民、以及家族來自萊斯沃斯島的25萬海外僑民？

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.

在法院訴訟書中，原告們指稱，希臘政府對Lesbian 一詞大為尷尬，甚至被迫用該島首府米蒂利尼之名來改稱萊斯沃斯島。

An 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.

目前法院已訂下日期，將由法官裁定是否准許對「希臘男女同性戀社群」發出禁制令，要求該組織變更名稱。

The term lesbian originated from a mythological goddess and poet called Sappho, who was a native of Lesbos. Sappho expressed her love of other women in poetry written during the 7th Century BC.

lesbian一詞源於希臘神話中一位名叫莎孚的女神兼詩人，她是萊斯沃斯島本地人。莎孚曾在西元前7世紀左右所寫下的詩歌中，表達她對其他女性的愛意。

新聞辭典

dipute：動詞，指爭執、對…提出異議、爭奪，如They disputed the election results.（他們對選舉結果提出異議。）

boil down：動詞片語，原指煮沸後濃縮，引申為指濃縮、總結或某事的主要原因，如The problem boils down to one thing -- lack of money.（問題總歸一個原因，那就是缺錢。）

injunction：名詞，正式用語，指（法院）發出的禁止令、強制令，如She is seeking an injunction banning the newspaper from publishing the photographs.（她正向法院聲請發出禁制令，阻止報社刊登這些照片。）