Brokeback fans aim to name Vermont peak Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network
Fri Mar 24, 7:17 PM ET
SUMMARY: A Web-based movement is afoot to name a Vermont peak "Brokeback Mountain," after the fictitious site of the gay cowboy romance.
There's a movement to name a Vermont mountain after the award-winning, gay-themed film "Brokeback Mountain."
"One day it occurred to us that Vermont has many, many mountains," says the anonymous creator of brokebackmountainvermont.com. "Most of them do not have an official name. So, we got to thinking. Since Vermont is the coolest state, full of open-minded people, why shouldn't we have our own Brokeback Mountain (minus the cowboys)?"
Many of Vermont's mountains and hills are not named. Changing that can be as easy as getting some signatures on a petition: Vermont law vests in the Board of Libraries the authority to "name roads and geographic locations including but not limited to mountains, streams, lakes and ponds upon petition signed by not less than 25 interested persons or by petition of an administrative department of the state."
"We expect a few snags along the way and we expect to meet resistance from several individuals and organizations," the Web site asserts.
First, though, the site notes that organizers must first find a Vermont mountain suitable for the name, and invites viewers' suggestions.
"It is important to understand that Brokeback Mountain does not exist except in the minds and hearts of the millions of people that saw and fell in love with the movie," the site reads. "Our goal is simply to dedicate our mountain as an eternal tribute to a movie that changed so many lives for the better."
Reaction from fans of the movie has been mixed.
"Why do we have to name a mountain 'Brokeback Mountain' just to be accepting?" one movie fan asked WPTZ-TV in Burlington.
"I would sign it rather than not sign it," another fan told the television station.
A spokesman for Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, said his staff will take no position, saying, "We're completely neutral about the idea."
In 2000, Vermont became the first U.S. state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.
"Brokeback Mountain," an epic love story about two ranch hands who fall in love and maintain an affair over two decades despite their respective marriages, won three Academy Awards this month. Often dubbed "the gay cowboy movie," the film broke new ground as well as some box-office records.
While the film was set in Wyoming, the movie was shot in Alberta, Canada. At present there is no movement to name a mountain after the film in either region.
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I'm so confused by this...we don't even have ranches in Vermont because there ARE too many mountains. Whatever floats their boat.