The article from Berkeley’s Campus was written by future Gay Sunshine editor, Konstantin Berlandt, in 1963. The article offered an honest portrayal of the discrimination gay men faced at Berkeley and the tactics city and campus police used to harass them.
In a 21 month period from September 1963, the Berkeley Police arrested 240 people for homosexual offenses of “soliciting or committing a lewd act in a public place or open to the view of the public” or “loitering in a public restroom for the purposes of engaging in a lewd act.”1
The Kinsey Reports were from the late 1940s and early 1950s and presented a statistical analysis of sexuality. The report demonstrated to many people that gayness was not an aberration, but statistically quite common, working to normalize homosexuality in certain respects. This article is also attempting to normalize the presence of gay men on Berkeley’s campus.