Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth
IPLGY was renamed the Hetrick-Martin Institute two years after leaving this address
overview
Between the fall of 1983 and early 1986, the full third floor of this building was the first office of the Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth (IPLGY), which established the Harvey Milk High School, the first high school in the nation for LGBT youth, here.
Renamed the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) for its founders in 1988, HMI remains the nation’s largest agency serving LGBT youth, with a dual focus on providing services and shaping policy.
Drs. Emery Hetrick and Damien Martin, c. 1970s. Photographer and source unknown.
Drs. Emery Hetrick and Damien Martin (seated) at the 112 West 23rd Street office, with staff members that include Steve Ashkinazy (second from left) and Joyce Hunter (second from right), 1985. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Steve Ashkinazy.
Joyce Hunter, Steve Ashkinazy, and Dr. Damien Martin at the 112 West 23rd Street office, 1985. Photo by Steve Ziffer. Courtesy of Steve Ashkinazy.
IPLGY marching in the 1985 NYC Gay Pride March. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of the Lesbian Herstory Archives.
Tax photo of 112 East 23rd Street, c. 1939. Courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives.
Tax photo of 112 East 23rd Street, c. 1960s. Courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives.
History
The Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth (IPLGY) was founded in 1979 in the apartment (144 East 36th Street) of Dr. Emery S. Hetrick (1931-1987), a psychiatrist, and Dr. A. Damien Martin (1933-1991), a professor at New York University. There they gathered a group of concerned adults to discuss at-risk LGBT youth in New York City affected by homophobia, physical abuse, homelessness, chronic truancy and school drop out, and involvement in sex work. Up until 1983, they continued to meet at the East 36th Street apartment and also had meetings at various locations including the Washington Square United Methodist Church and the LGBT Community Center.
In 1983, with private support from Hetrick and Martin, the group began providing direct services to address the physical, social, educational, and therapeutic needs of LGBT youth. At that time, it received a gift from an anonymous donor that was matched with its first public grant from the New York State Division for Youth. This allowed IPLGY to lease an office at this East 23rd Street location in the fall of 1983. Here they continued to offer and expand its social services by providing LGBT youth counseling and a drop-in center. IPLGY provided educational training throughout the city with a street outreach crew that worked at night on the piers in Greenwich Village.
Blacks, Jews, and Hispanics are not thrown out of their families or religion at adolescence for being black, Jewish, and Hispanic. Gay and lesbian kids are.
To address chronic truancy of LGBT youth – who were afraid to attend schools for fear of harassment and violence – they established the Harvey Milk High School (HMHS) in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education. It became the first public high school in the country for youths victimized in public schools because of their sexual orientation or gender expression.
HMHS opened on April 15, 1985 at the Washington Square United Methodist Church and in the fall relocated to the LGBT Community Center. By early 1986, IPLGY realized that operating HMHS offsite was too challenging. As a result, the institute relocated to a larger space next door at 110 East 23rd Street in order to accommodate its offices and create a separate classroom space for HMHS. Subsequently the agency moved to an office on West Street for a period.
IPLGY was renamed the Hetrick-Martin Institute in 1988, following the death of Hetrick from an AIDS-related illness, age 56, a year prior. Martin also died of AIDS, age 57, in 1991. Today, HMI and the Harvey Milk High School operate out of 2 Astor Place in Manhattan.
Entry by Ken Lustbader, project director (March 2017).
NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.
Building Information
- Architect or Builder: F.A. Wright
- Year Built: 1910-11
Sources
Andy Humm, e-mail to Ken Lustbader, August 11, 2016.
Joseph P. Merlino and Jack Drescher, eds., American Psychiatry and Homosexuality: An Oral History (Harrington Park Press, 2007).
Joyce Hunter, personal interview with Ken Lustbader, December 2016.
Steve Ashkinazy, personal interview with Ken Lustbader, September 2016.
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