THE REAL CLASS OF 2009
THE HETRICK-MARTIN INSTITUTE AND HARVEY MILK HIGH SCHOOL
Thirty years ago, Emery Hetrick, a psychiatrist, and his partner Damien Martin, a professor at New York University, founded the Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth in response to a particularly brutal attack on a gay teenager.
Today, the organization they founded, renamed the Hetrick-Martin Institute in their honor, is still going strong under the direction of Thomas Krever. In 1985, the Hetrick-Martin Institute founded the Harvey Milk High School, with two classrooms and about a dozen students. Although the school was designated a fully functioning public transfer high school in 2003, it continues to share building space with HMI, its former trustee, and has grown to seven classrooms and about 100 students, a large number of whom are LGBT youth who have been able to flourish in a compassionate and secure environment.
Currently more than 1,000 people attend the after-school programs, yet in spite of a 30% increase in the number of people seeking the services of HMI, Krever describes the last six months as “some of the most difficult times this organization has ever had to endure. Right now, simply being able to survive is an accomplishment.” You can help HMI by visiting HMI.org.
Students pictured, clockwise from top left: Luis Oyola, Beatriz Henriquez, Luis Alcantara, Nick Gilliam, Daphne Angel Wynn, Angie Gonzalez, Markell Wade, Alyssia Thompson, Marisol Barbosa, and Esti Ocequeda.
