This year Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) proudly celebrates 40 years as the nation’s largest and very first LGBTQ Youth Services organization. In 1979, Dr. Emery Hetrick and Dr. Damien Martin learned of a homeless 15-year old boy who had been beaten and kicked out of his emergency shelter because he was gay. In response, they along with other concerned adults, created the Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth, which was renamed in 1988 in honor of Dr. Hetrick’s and Dr. Martin’s commitment to service of LGBTQ young people.