Dr. Becky Allison: Local Action Hero
Dr. Rebecca Anne Allison, or Dr. Becky as she is called, has led an exceptional life. Born and raised in Greenwood, Miss., she enrolled in college at age 17. By age 24 she graduated from the University of Mississippi medical program magna cum laude. She first specialized in primary care/internal medicine, but soon realized that her true passion was cardiology. She returned to college for a two-year fellowship and then worked as cardiologist in Mississippi for six years.
In 1993, her sixth year as a cardiologist, Dr. Becky made another significant decision, this time regarding her personal life. She began her gender transition. The reactions she received at that time were harsh. “When I came out, I lost my medical practice in Jackson, Mississippi,” Dr. Becky says. “I was out of work for the better part of the year, until I found a job in Phoenix.” Fortunately that was the last move Dr. Becky was forced to make.
In Phoenix, Dr. Becky now serves as the chief of cardiology for CIGNA, one of the largest healthcare organizations in the country. For the past 13 years, Dr. Becky’s work and reputation have grown considerably. In 2004, she entered the advocacy arena for national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality when she offered to speak on transgender issues at the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association’s annual dinner. She was asked to serve on the organization’s Board of Directors, a position she has held enthusiastically for the past three years. During her first year on the board she was selected as the chair of the Educational Committee. As chair, she has influenced the organization by helping choose topics discussed at annual meetings, bringing greater attention to transgender issues such as medical treatment, legal concerns, counseling and social implications.
In addition to her work with the GLMA, Dr. Becky is a member of the American Medical Association Advisory Committee on GLBT Issues. In this capacity, Dr. Becky has been a diligent advocate on behalf of transgender concerns. In June 2007, she testified at the AMA annual convention in Chicago. The AMA subsequently moved to include “gender identity” in its non-discrimination policies. “The new policy changes will impact patients, physicians and medical students,” Dr. Becky says. “The implications are major.”
Despite the improvements made in AMA policy, Dr. Becky knows that the medical community has a long way to go before it becomes fully trans-friendly. Increasing access to healthcare for transgender individuals is a particularly urgent need. “One of my major goals for the next few years is to have the AMA come out in support of trans-inclusive insurance coverage,” Dr. Becky says. She also hopes to obtain approval from the Food and Drug Administration for hormones used for transitioning. “Right now it is not illegal to give them,” she explains, “but there is no medical society that backs up their use. This leads to physician hesitation in prescribing the hormones, for fear of liability.”
Dr. Becky recognizes that other problems within the healthcare profession also impede competent care for gay, lesbian and bisexual patients as well as transgender people. “What happens if I get sick — will my partner have the power of attorney, or will it be family I haven’t seen in years?” she asks. “Will my partner be allowed to be included in my living will? If not, who will receive it?” Even if these questions are answered, the documents may be ignored by some hospitals, she points out. “Partner rights need to be respected by more hospitals than they are now.”
Dr. Becky highlights two notable responses to such discrimination. The first comes from the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, which has undertaken an initiative to create an online database of GLBT-friendly healthcare providers. The database would list the names of providers who are not only willing to treat GLBT people, but are “skilled and know how to provide GLBT competent health care,” Dr. Becky emphasized. The second response, the Healthcare Equality Index, is a joint project of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and GLMA. The HEI will provide a quality indicator for healthcare, beginning with the hospital industry. It will also offer examples of existing policies that healthcare organizations can use as models when seeking to promote fair-minded policies.
“I think that we’re really making progress in bringing transgender and GLB healthcare into the mainstream,” Dr. Becky says. “The more we can be involved in the AMA, the more people will come to look at our lives as another part of normal society. That’s our goal — to have people think of us as not really any different.”
In addition to her work in the medical field, Dr. Becky works for visibility and acceptance of GLBT people on the societal level. For the past several years, she and Margaux Schaffer — her partner and, Dr. Becky says, her personal hero — have organized Day of Remembrance events in Phoenix to honor transgender victims of violence. Each year, on a Sunday evening in November, the Day of Remembrance ceremony is held on the steps of the Arizona state Capitol. Amidst candlelight and music, the names and stories of transgender murder victims are recited. By recalling the victims, these committed activists raise awareness about bias-motivated violence.
And Dr. Becky’s outreach continues year-round. Through her website (www.drbecky.com), she has become a constant resource on transgender issues. Dr. Becky started the website as a public record of all of her experiences related to her transition. “People used to not know that transitioning could work,” she reflects.
“When I was 20 years old in medical school, growing up in the South, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do anything about it. I began to read up on transsexualism. The books used terrible words, like ‘perverse’ and ‘deviation,’ and I thought I didn’t want to be like that. So I decided not to come out — and it cost me many years of happiness. It set me back in my ability to accept myself and be content with my transition.”
When she created her website, Dr. Becky was determined to “be a beacon.” She demonstrated that transitioning was possible, and that living openly did not have to be a career obstacle. For the past two years, she has been voted a top cardiologist — out of the hundreds of cardiologists in Phoenix.
Through her role as a talented cardiologist treating patients across the spectrum of gender identity and expression, Dr. Becky also hopes to encourage a greater acceptance of trans-identified people within society as a whole. “Just because we don’t share the same life experiences doesn’t mean that they can’t be our friends and value us in the same way,” she insists. She will continue to work toward a time, she says, when transgender people “shift from being a scary thought in our society, to being just the folks next door.”
Aug.1, 2007
