Historic LGBTQIA+ Sites You Need to Visit in LA – Thrillist

The Mattachine Steps

Silver Lake
In 1948, gay activist Harry Hay held meetings for a secret group called Bachelor’s Anonymous out of his Silver Lake home. Two years later, he founded the Mattachine Society, one of the first queer organizations in the nation. Some women were invited to join the meetings, but the collective mainly included gay men and trans people were excluded outright.

The organization gained popularity throughout California, but Hay’s leftist politics led to him being ousted in 1953. Under his leadership, however, some members founded ONE Magazine, the first nationally-distributed gay and lesbian magazine. The Mattachine Society became increasingly conservative under its new leadership, but successfully expanded throughout the nation.

Officially named in 2012, the Mattachine Steps are a section of the Cove Avenue stairway a block away from Hay’s home.