|
Stonewall Nation was the informal name given to a proposition by gay activists to establish a separatist community in Alpine County, California in 1970. The small population of the county and the election rules for California counties at the time suggested to these activists that if they could induce a relatively small number of gay people to move to the county, they could recall the county government and replace it with an all-gay slate. The plan did not gain traction in the LGBT community and a right-wing Christian minister announced plans to move large numbers of Christians to the county to counteract any attempt by gay people to take over the county government. The plan was abandoned about a year after it was conceived and the idea has come to be seen as a practical joke. ==Alpine County== In 1970, Alpine County had a population of about 430 people,〔Rutledge, p. 13〕 with 367 registered voters. Under a recent California Supreme Court ruling, new county residents could register to vote after 90 days in residence. Activist Don Jackson presented his idea for taking over the county at a December 28, 1969 gay liberation conference at Berkeley, California. He was inspired by gay activist and writer Carl Wittman, who wrote in his "Gay Manifesto", "To be a free territory, we must govern ourselves, set up our own institutions, defend ourselves....Rural retreats, political action offices...they must be developed if we are to have even the shadow of a free territory."〔Wittman, collected in Blasius and Phelan, p. 387〕〔New York activist Craig Schoonmaker developed his own plan for a free gay territory, suggesting that LGBT people establish majorities in Manhattan's 19th and 20th Congressional districts and elect openly gay members of Congress from this "First Gay-Power District" (Teal, p. 292).〕 He (incorrectly) suggested that if as few as 200 gay people moved to Alpine County, they would constitute a majority of registered voters. Taking over the county government, he said, would result in: "a gay government, a gay civil service...the world's first gay university, partially paid for by the state...the world's first museum of gay arts, sciences and history...(a ) free county health service and hospital..."These things would be partially paid for through property taxes and state and federal subsidies.〔Teal, pp. 292–93〕 The Los Angeles chapter of the Gay Liberation Front assumed responsibility for the project, which became informally known as "Stonewall Nation".〔Teal, p. 295〕 In the fall of 1970, a member of the Metropolitan Community Church, an LGBT-interest church founded in Los Angeles, bought a five-acre lot in the county and wrote a report on the feasibility of the project. According to the "Alpine Report", while many were apathetic, some county residents expressed active hostility to the idea (to the point of threatening violence) while others, believing that the current county government was unresponsive, would welcome any change.〔 Nonetheless, the report urged caution, noting that a mass move into the county would probably trigger a backlash. The report counseled moving people in a few at a time over a long period of time to allow current residents time to adapt to the changing circumstances.〔 According to gay rights activist Craig Rodwell, after the takeover of Alpine County was effected, work to take over the entire adjacent state of Nevada would begin by using the same process, only then involving tens of thousands of gay men and lesbians.〔''QQ Magazine'' editorial "Hanging In Together" Craig Rodwell, pg 47, Retrieved 2010-10-30〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stonewall Nation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|