More Men Arrested in Gage Park Sex Sting
The Topeka Capital-Journal, August 18, 1995
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Topeka police Tuesday and Wednesday arrested 17 men they allege solicited homosexual
acts from plainclothes officers in Gage Park.
Also on Wednesday, gay rights activists said they were working to build support to try
and overturn the city ordinance under which those men were arrested.
The arrests were made under a city law that makes it a misdemeanor to solicit acts of
prostitution or sodomy.
Topeka police in November and December arrested 27 men in connection with solicitation
of sodomy at Gage Park. They made 12 more such arrests in April and early may. Commander
Ed White, of the police investigations division, said a similar sting operation this week
brought 11 arrests Tuesday and six Wednesday.
Each arrest was made in connection with solicitation of sodomy.
But some Topekans think the ordinance banning solicitation of sodomy discriminates
against homosexuals.
The Unity and Pride Alliance of Topeka, a group dedicated to fighting the spread of HIV
through raising pride in the gay community, announced Wednesday it will team up with two
other groups to sponsor a public forum on "What's really Going on in Gage Park."
Sam Van Leeuwen, an organizer, said the public forum - at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at the
Washburn University School of Law - will have two purposes: to educate the public about
the sting operation and to build support for efforts to overturn the ordinance.
The following men were arrested under the ordinance Tuesday and Wednesday in Gage Park:
[list deleted for obvious reasons.]
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