Derrick’s parents kicked him out of property after the media publicized that school officials allowed Derrick to take his boyfriend as his date to the prom. The then-18-year-old “did not wish to step on anyone’s toes or offend anybody,†since “every person is really a human being and they deserve their rights.” In the wake of being kicked out of residence Martin established his own non-for profit. Project LifeVest was developed to “to be a helping hand, a life vest, to as quite a few LGBT teens and adults as possible.”
