女同性恋为何会涌至莱斯博斯岛？

Love island
爱情岛

Why lesbians flock to Lesbos
女同性恋为何会涌至莱斯博斯岛？

And why locals, once leery, now welcome them
曾经心怀顾虑的当地人眼下为何又欢迎她们？

INSPIRED BY THE erotic poetry of Sappho, who was born on the island 2,600 years ago, many languages—including English (“lesbian”), Greek (“lesvia”) and Japanese (“rezubian”)—use the demonym of her birthplace to describe sexual attraction between women. This linguistic fact has spawned a growing tourism industry in Sappho’s birth village of Eresos, in a remote corner of the island of Lesbos. Joanna Savva, a local travel agent, estimates that 3,000-4,000 gay women now visit Eresos every summer, up from under 1,000 a couple of decades ago. The village has only 1,500 full-time residents, but three lesbian bars. Hundreds of tourists attend a women’s festival every September, where activities range from political discussions to beach parties. Many visitors to Eresos keep coming back every year, and some have even stayed on to run businesses. “I immediately fell in love with the place,” says Katie Kalt, who runs a café in Eresos from May to October, but designs data-management systems in Switzerland during the winter. “I felt very accepted.”
据英国《经济学人》网站12月15日的消息：2600年前，萨福生于这座岛上。受萨福抒情诗的启发，英语 (“lesbian”), 希腊语 (“lesvia”) 和日语 (“rezubian”)等语言都以其出生地的名字来形容女人之间的性吸引。这一语言学上的事实已在萨福出生的埃雷索斯村落催生出蒸蒸日上的旅游产业。埃雷索斯村位于莱斯博斯岛的偏远一隅。在一家当地旅行社工作的乔安娜-萨瓦(Joanna Savva)估计，每年夏天有3000至4000名女同性恋到埃雷索斯旅游，而在几十年前这一数字还不到1000。虽然这个村子只有1500名常住居民，但却有三家女同性恋酒吧。每年9月份，数百名游客会参加当地的妇女节，活动内容则是涵盖政治讨论和海滩派对。许多到埃雷索斯的游客每年都会归来，有人甚至会留下来做生意。凯蒂·卡尔特从5月到10月在埃雷索斯经营一家咖啡馆，但冬天在瑞士设计数据管理系统。她说：“我立刻爱上了这个地方。我有被很好接纳的感觉。”

Although locals on Lesbos are now friendly towards lesbian visitors, this was not always the case. Homophobia used to be widespread. Ten years ago, three islanders even tried to reclaim the word “lesbian”: they unsuccessfully demanded that Greek courts ban its use to describe gay women. But attitudes have since softened considerably, as lesbian tourists have filled hotels, bars and restaurants in Eresos. As Ms Savva puts it, “People here have learnt the value of the pink dollar.”
虽然莱斯博斯岛的当地人现在对女同性恋游客很友好，但情况却并非一直如此。同性恋恐惧症曾在岛上很普遍。10年前，3名岛民甚至试图收回“女同性恋”一词:他们要求希腊法院禁止用“lesbian”一词来形容女同性恋，但未胜诉。但随着女同性恋游客涌入埃雷索斯的旅馆、酒吧和餐馆，人们的态度已发生明显软化。诚如萨瓦女士所言，“这里的人们已经认识到同性恋族群消费力的价值。”

Its value may have appreciated in recent years. Media attention during the migrant crisis in 2015, when the island became the entry-point to Europe for hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers, scared off many visitors. Only 44,000 came last year, down 40% from 2015. But Ms Savva says tourist numbers in Eresos, which is also far from the camps, proved resilient.
近年来，这一价值可能已在上升。在2015年移民危机期间，该岛成为数十万寻求庇护者进入欧洲的入口，而媒体的关注却吓跑了许多游客。去年只有4.4万人到来，比2015年下降了40%。但萨瓦女士表示，同样远离难民营的埃雷索斯的游客数量已证明有能力复苏。

Lesbos is not the only Greek island to attract gay tourists. Nearby Mykonos has developed a reputation as a frenetic party hotspot for gay men. But with acceptance of homosexuality growing across the rich world, some wonder if places like these will appeal to future generations of gay travellers. Lillian Jensen, the Norwegian owner of a lesbian bar in Eresos, says many younger lesbians “want to go to more mainstream places”. But for now, she remains optimistic about Eresos’s prospects. “There’s nowhere else in Europe quite like it,” she says.
莱斯博斯岛并非希腊唯一一个吸引同性恋游客的岛屿。附近的米科诺斯(Mykonos)因成为男同性恋的疯狂派对举办地而名声在外。但随着发达国家对同性恋的接受程度不断提高，有些人质疑这样的地方是否会吸引未来的同性恋旅客。埃雷索斯一家女同性恋酒吧的挪威籍店主莉莲-詹森表示，许多年轻的女同性恋者“想去更主流的地方”。但就目前而言，她对埃雷索斯的前景仍持乐观态度。她说:“在欧洲，没有其它任何地方能与之相媲美。”(译：李娜)

https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/12/15/why-lesbians-flock-to-lesbos

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