DENNIS, Mass.--Last August, Rep. Gerry E. Studds (D-Mass.) visited this small resort town of about 8000 to hold one of his frequent "town meetings" on issues and concerns of his constituents just two weeks after his censure for a 1973 affair with a male Congressional page.

What Studds found was a community violently divided over his sexual misconduct and homosexuality.

Manhood

At the meeting, a Dennis selectman presented Studds with a petition signed by 314 residents calling for his immediate resignation because he had "de-based his manhood" and could no longer effectively represent the 10th district. Demonstrators with picket signs reading "Get the Gay Out" and "Dump Studds" also greeted the 46-year-old Congressman.

But about half of the crowd registered equally vigorous support for Studds, including a former page who pleaded that the crowd consider Studds's record and dedication.

Six months later, tempers have cooled, but, as Studds begins his fifth reelection campaign, his 10th Massachusetts Congressional district remains clearly divided in its feelings about Studds as a man; and, to a lesser extent, Studds as its congressman.

Three Sections

The district includes three distinct sections: the traditionally Democratic blue-collar New Bedford area, which still depends on commercial fishing for much of its livelihood; the more conservative and more elderly constituency on Cape Cod; and the affluent liberal suburbs to the southeast of Boston.

Studds's strong record of service to the area over the last 10 years has made him extremely popular throughout his district, Studds is particularly strong in New Bedford, where fishermen associate him with helping institute in 1974 the 200-mile-limit on U.S. waters, which kept foreign boats out of the fishing zones off the Cape.

Studds has also worked hard to keep oil drilling rigs off Georges Bank, winning him support from Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard residents.

Angelic

"Until this scandal broke this summer, you'd think he was an angel from heaven, the way people talked about him," says David Morris, who works at The Peanut Store, a confectionery market in downtown New Bedford. "I've heard a lot of fishermen say they like what he's done for them.

"I think he's done a good job as far as helping the seamen around here. I don't see anything wrong with him," agrees a secretary at a Christian Science reading room in New Bedford.

Besides fishing and martime issues--Studds served as chairman of the House subcommittee on the Coast Guard and navigation until he was stripped of his seniority after the censure--Studds has been an outspoken critic of the Reagan Administration's military policy in Central America.

But by and large, the 150,000 voters of the 10th district are divided over how they feel about Studds as a person, although not necessarily as a representative.