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| Founded | 1957 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Chapin "Smitty" Smith |
| Founded at | Los Angeles, California |
| Website | satyrsmc |
TheSatyrs Motorcycle Club is agay men'smotorcycle club. It was founded on November 5, 1954 at the home of Chapin "Smitty" Smith, where, along with seven founding members, the club held its first official meeting. The club's incarnation had begun a few weeks prior, after a night of drinking, partying, and sex. It is the oldest continuously operating gay organization in the United States, and the first gay organization with a set ofbylaws and a clubconstitution. It did not use theMattachine Society's "cell structure" developed byHarry Hay to avoid thehomosexual/communismwitch hunt between 1947 and 1957.
Founding members were: Chapin "Smitty" Smith, Clint "Bud" Olsen, Roy Whitney, Dub Keith, Randy Kinney, Raoul Vasquez and Don Gath. Don Gath is recorded in the minutes of theOedipus Motorcycle Club of Los Angeles, the second oldest continuously runninggay motorcycle club, as theirfounding member in 1958.
The Satyrs Motorcycle Club helped spawn many motorcycle clubs across the nation in its early years. Many groups "borrowed and copied" the club's bylaws, as they were unsure how to establish themselves after theMcCarthyism of the 1950s.
In 2010 the Satyrs Motorcycle Club was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.[1]
The Satyrs Motorcycle Club continues to sponsor activities, including theLabor Day Badger Flats Run, which is one of their most well known activities. It also sponsorscharityfundraising activities, community involvement, and motorcycle-relevant events.
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