<p>Is it just absolutely mind-blowing?</p>
<p>and how about the political spectrum?</p>
<p>If by mind blowing, you mean they exist? Yes.
There is a larger, more active population of LGBT people in the Bay Area than in many other parts of the country. Are you asking if they are a majority, or looking for groups/events to join up with?</p>
<p>Well, I come from the South (Georgia, specifically), and the idea of UC Berkeley here is a bra-burning, extremely liberal, heavily gay populated college with protests and demonstrations at least once every week. Because I'm a gay liberal-moderate, this doesn't negatively affect my opinions on UC Berkeley. I'm just wondering if the generalization is at least partially true in some respect.</p>
<p>The students themselves tend to also be liberal-moderate, and not as demonstrative as Berkeley's been in the past. The exceptions at the moment are the demonstrations at the Army recuiters office and the tree-sitters. The gay population at the school is smaller than i thought it would be, having heard the same rumors before arriving too, but there is definately a stronger sense of a gay community and a whole lot of support and opportunities. Berkeley and SF is where there is a population that is greater than what i anticipated, but it still is a minority overall.</p>
<p>With few exceptions, you will not find Berkeley's population to be mucher "gayer" than that of any other major research university on either coast. I went to Berkeley from the east coast, expecting a non-stop protest and lots and lots of liberal activity. The activity you find on campus will be, quite often, instigated by the left-over hippies who live in the city of Berkeley and have little to no connection to the university itself. The faculty is very much in line politically with what you would find at Berkeley's peer schools. It is certainly not a place where you'd feel the least bit insecure about being gay, but I'd wager that you'd feel as OK at Stanford, UCLA, or any of the East Coast schools. If you're looking for that ultra-liberal bastion of free love, you're about 40 years too late. Berkeley students are political but they are first and foremost students.</p>