Idle Threat of the Week

Stupid lawsuits are usually filed by individuals -- dimwitted but opportunistic individuals who aren't ashamed to admit they need instructions on putting on their seat belt or not drinking coffee when it is too hot.

Rarely do you hear of a whole geographic region descending into legal absurdity. But rarely is a whole geographic region named Lesbos -- as in the Greek island of 100,000.

Last week the island sought an injuction to prevent a Greek gay rights organization from using the word "lesbian." If this tactic is successful, islanders plan to fight the l-word internationally.

To the man spearheading the efforts, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, it's more than just one Rosie O'Donnell joke too many. Lambrou posits the international dominance of "lesbian" in its sexual context "violates the human rights" of the original Lesbians, and "disgraces them around the world."

Unfortunately for Lambrou -- no matter what the outcome of the court case -- the world can no more disown the word lesbian in its sexual context than it can disown the stereotype that lesbians like to play golf while wearing Birkenstocks and listening to folk music.

And the Island of Lesbos attempt to free itself from the sapphic* connotations heaped upon it by a careless world is the Idle Threat of The Week for April 28th to March 4th.

Even so, if the islanders happen to score any victories on the legal front, don't be surprised if sports stars Rudy and Randell Gay follow suit.

* The Ancient Greek poet Sappho, who expressed her love for women in verse, was from Lesbos, which is how this all got started.