Our History

October 6, 2024

Callen-Lorde’s grassroots history begins in 1969 – just shy of 6 months after Stonewall. Two young doctors started the St. Mark’s Clinic (also known as St. Mark’s Free Clinic and St. Mark’s Community Clinic) at 44 St. Marks Place, the epicenter of East Coast counterculture. The mission of the clinic was to provide free health care to young people and people in the neighborhood, who, according to a volunteer at the time, consisted largely of “hippies,” “freaks,” and “queers.” The majority of the patients were between 16-25 years of age, and came in droves for STI testing & treatment, illness related to substance use, reproductive health and mental health counseling.

In the early 1970’s, a group of seven queer women banded together at St. Mark’s to create the Women’s Health Collective – the “Oldest Lesbian Clinic in the Nation.” In the later 1970’s, the Women’s Health Collective expanded and took over St. Mark’s, building their own location on 2nd Avenue and 2nd Street. Their vision was to break down the barrier between provider and patient. They were anti-establishment, anti-racist, and rooted in health justice.

Meanwhile, in 1972, a group of three friends – Leonard Ebreo, Marc Rabinowitz, and Perry Brass – founded the Gay Men’s Health Project (GMHP). None had a background in health care, but they wanted to reduce shame, fear, and stigma about gay bodies and gay sex to improve health outcomes among themselves and their peers. GMHP opened in an unfinished concrete basement at 247 West Eleventh Street in Greenwich Village. They taught themselves how to swab, screen and diagnose STI’s, and would refer patients who tested positive to licensed clinics. Many were referred to St. Mark’s, which would eventually lead to a more formal relationship between the two.

Both the Women’s Health Collective and Gay Men’s Health Project pioneered the idea that health care could not only be inclusive of queer people, but provided by queer people.

In 1983, to pool resources in response to the growing AIDS epidemic, the St. Mark’s Clinic merged with Gay Men’s Health Project to create Community Health Project, Inc. (CHP). CHP squatted at 208 West 13th Street in Greenwich Village – a building which would later become The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (aka The Center). In 1985, CHP opened the nation’s first community-based HIV clinic in conjunction with Bellevue Hospital and launched the AIDS Assessment Program to provide comprehensive evaluations, intakes, education, and counseling.

In the early 90’s, community-specific programs like the Lesbian Health Program, The Transgender Health & Education Program (THE) and Health Outreach to Teens (HOTT) Program created community and a pathway to care for groups who experienced further marginalization. Ultimately, these initiatives helped build the foundation of Callen-Lorde’s care model: integrative, community-centric, and provided regardless of ability to pay.

In addition to testing, diagnosing, and treating illness, CHP had a goal to more proactively keep our communities healthy through primary care. However, the space in the Center was not code compliant with the State Department of Health. A primary care center required additional licensing, technology and space, and so, the decision was made to move once again and expand operations. In 1996, with help from New York State, CHP purchased a 27,000 square foot abandoned building at 356 West 18th Street and began a gut renovation.

In 1998, under a new State Department of Health license, CHP became the “Michael Callen-Audre Lorde Community Health Center,” dedicated to singer, songwriter, and AIDS activist Michael Callen and self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” Audre Lorde.

Since then, we have continued to expand to meet the growing needs of our communities. We opened a dental clinic and care coordination program and an on-site pharmacy. We added public policy & advocacy, research, and education to our repertoire, working to improve the health of LGBTQ people outside our doors and around the globe. In 2016, we opened our first space outside of Manhattan – Callen-Lorde Bronx. And in 2020 – in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic – we opened Callen-Lorde Brooklyn.

Our advocacy efforts have changed lives for LGBTQ+ people in New York and around the country. We’ve worked with allies and partners to get important legislation passed for our communities, mobilize staff to advocate at the state level and help individuals access lifesaving care.

In the last two years, Callen-Lorde has

Helped reverse planned city budget cuts to HIV services funding

Helped win hundreds of millions in reinvestment funding for clinics after New York “carved out” its Medicaid 340B drug program

Continued to play a leading role in Ending the Epidemic, the CDC’s campaign to prevent HIV across the country

Impacted legislation that would streamline HIV testing in New York, so more patients could know their status

Helped lead the effort to create the World Professional Association on Transgender Care’s Version 8 standards of care, which makes best practice recommendations for transgender health

Worked with the state to ensure its transgender care regulations are in line with said standards

Worked within a health care coalition to get Gov. Kathy Hochul to enact a law this legislative session that remove prior authorization for HIV treatment

Helped formerly homeless youth access health care

Rallied at Advocacy Day in Albany each year

These are just a handful of our successes, but they highlight the immense amount of work Callen-Lorde team members do to address the issues that disproportionately impact our communities. Our work is crucial to maintain and advance LGBTQ+ health in the city and beyond.

We’ve come a long way from a small, volunteer-run clinic to the network of health centers we have become. We are proud to be a part of the fabric of LGBTQ+ health centers across the country that helps make history every day.