Emery Hetrick
(? - 1987) U.S.A.

Activist, educator
In 1979, Dr. Emery Hetrick and Dr. Damien Martin, who were life-partners, heard the heart-breaking story of a homeless 15 year-old boy who had been beaten up and kicked out of his emergency shelter because he was gay. They were so moved that they gathered a group of concerned adults and created what was then called the Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth (IPLGY).
Emery was a psychiatrist who devoted his life to educating psychiatrists around the world about the challenges facing lesbians and gays. Damien was a professor at New York University who worked tirelessly to educate the general public about the needs of lesbian and gay young people.
In the early years, Martin himself came in to run the place on what was supposed to be a temporary basis but in fact lasted until his death from AIDS in 1991. Hetrick had also died of AIDS, in 1987. In 1988, the Institute was renamed The Hetrick-Martin Institute in honor of Emery Hetrick and Damien Martin's life-long commitment to serving the needs of lesbian and gay youth.
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