Did you know the Mattachine Society was one of the first gay rights organizations in the United States? The Mattachine Society was founded by Harry Hay to aid in eliminating the oppression of gay people. The society held its first meeting in Los Angeles on November 11, 1950. The society wasn't official incorporated until 1961.
On April 21, 1966, the New York Chapter of Mattachine staged a "sip in" in protest to being refused service in New York City bars. The sip in became one of the cornerstone movements in history of gay rights.
Although bankruptcy forced the society to disband, it was reformed in Shreveport, LA in 2005. The Mattachine Society used an arrangement of harlequin-shaped diamonds as its symbol.
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