During Spring quarter of 1970 the Gay Students Union announced that
they were sponsoring a dance in Pauley Ballroom on the evening of May
22nd — the first openly-gay dance ever held on the Berkeley campus.
News of the landmark event reached the press, and a KQED reporter
earnestly asked Governor Ronald Reagan his reaction to the idea of
homosexuals dancing in a University facility. Caught off guard by the
question, Reagan ad-libbed, “I haven’t been invited yet!” As soon as
Reagan’s comment reached the GSU, a form letter was mimeographed and
handed out in Sproul Plaza. Gay students were encouraged to sign the
form and send it to Sacramento:
GAY STUDENTS UNION
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
Governor and Mrs. Ronald Reagan
Governor’s Mansion
Sacramento, California
Dear Governor and Mrs. Reagan,
I was sorry to hear that you had not yet received an invitation to the
People’s Dance sponsored by the Gay Students Union at UC Berkeley next
Friday, May 22, 1970 in Pauley Ballroom at 9:00 P.M.
I am sure the members in no way meant to slight you, and I hereby extend
my personal invitation for you both to attend, with sincere apologies
and a promise that this won’t happen again.
Tickets are $1.50 per person, and all proceeds are going to be donated
to the Free Clinic, a commendable organization in Berkeley which has for
several years now made free medical services available to the poor
people of Berkeley and Oakland.
If you find you are unable to attend, I hope you will consider donating
the price of two tickets to the Free Clinic as a token of your concern
not only for the clinic but for the age-old oppression of gay people of
which this dance symbolizes the end.
Sincerely yours,
May 15, 1970
