CLINICAL INNOVATORS
Interview by
KATLYN NEMANI, MD
Advocating for Equal
Treatment
An Interview with Rebecca Allison, MD
R
ebecca Allison, MD, is a practicing cardiologist at the Heart and Vascular Center of
Arizona and an active transgender advocate. She received her medical degree Magna Cum
Laude at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, and residency in medicine at the University of
Mississippi Medical Center Jackson, MS. Dr. Allison
practiced small-town primary care before completing
her cardiology fellowship at The University of Mississippi. She practiced invasive cardiology for 17 years
with Cigna Medical Group of Arizona, serving as the
Cigna Cardiology Section Head, before joining the
Heart and Vascular Center of Arizona, Phoenix, in
2012. After completing gender transition in 1994,
Dr. Allison became a prominent activist to address
the medical, legal, and spiritual needs of transgender
people. She served as President of GLMA: Health
Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality, as a Board
member of the World Professional Association for
Transgender Health, and as chair of the American
Medical Association’s Advisory Committee on Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues. Dr. Allison has frequently been named one of the “Top Doctors” in Phoenix and was the recipient of the Human
Rights Campaign Individual Equality Award in 2012.
How did you become interested in cardiology?
During my years of Internal Medicine practice, I
came to realize that the part of my practice I loved
the most was taking care of heart patients. Even
back in the 80s it was possible to see their lives improve so much. Then I started to read about Andreas
Gruentzig, MD, and the development of coronary
angioplasty. I said to myself, “I can do this—and I
really want to make it my practice.” I was fortunate
enough to be accepted for fellowship at my alma
mater. Cardiology has been a perfect fit for me.
What is your practice like at the Heart and
Vascular Center?
I love the balance of hospital and office cardiology.
After 31 years in the cardiac cath lab, I am beginning
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CardioSource WorldNews
to turn to my younger colleagues for the interventional procedures, but still maintain a lighter invasive
practice. In the office, I find my practice reminds me
of my early career in internal medicine. I can spend
time with my patients, many of whom I have treated
for decades. It is so rewarding emotionally - for me
and, I trust, for them.
What was your experience like transitioning in
the early 1990s? How was your decision received by the medical community?
Going back even further, to early childhood, I cannot remember a time when I was not aware of a
difference between my body and my mind—my
sense of self. It was never a “choice.” Long before I
had any understanding of sexuality, I knew I was
on the “wrong side of the playground.” But this was
the South in the 1950s, and there were absolutely
no resources or information. My culture told me
that I could be “healed” of whatever-this-was if I
prayed sincerely enough. So I tried and I prayed
for years and years. I give this background because
none of my peers, including my medical colleagues,
shared this life experience. While I gradually became
aware that the only way to resolve it was through
transition, they saw me as making an unfortunate
“lifestyle choice.” My practice in Mississippi shrunk
as my referral sources turned elsewhere, and I knew
I could not survive professionally unless I moved
away. I spent some time in Atlanta completing my
transition, and after surgery I settled in Phoenix and
the practice at Cigna.
How did you become involved in advocacy work
for the LGBT community?
I might not have been involved in activism at all, if
not for my partner, Margaux Schaffer. Margaux has
been advocating for transgender/transsexual rights
since the 1980s. Around 1990, she was the first
transgender person named to the Atlanta mayor’s
LGBT Task Force. Some of her contributions - planning the annual Southern Comfort transgender
conference, creating the design for a transgender
flag - have been carried forward by others, but the
inspiration came from her.
On a local level, I assisted Margaux for many
years in producing the annual Arizona Transgender
Day of Remembrance. The event, which was held at
the Arizona State Capitol, called attention to those
transgender persons who were murdered during the
past year. It was both a memorial service and a call
for equal protection. I also spoke before the Phoenix
City Council, supporting the rights of transgender
people in public facilities, years before the current
“bathroom bill” non-issue spun out of control.
Margaux encouraged me to begin my advocacy
efforts with the “drbecky” website, which led to
my involvement with the Gay and Lesbian Medical
Association, now known as GLMA. In 2004 I was
honored with the GLMA Achievement Award and
joined the GLMA Board of Directors.
Please tell us about your blog, drbecky.com.
I began the “drbecky” website in 1996 with the assistance of Margaux, who was then an Art Director for
an Internet Service Provider. We wanted to create a resource for persons who were beginning transition or
contemplating it. At first we developed basic services
such as a director of therapists and a state-by-state
guide for changing the gender on the birth certificate.
Over the following months our site traffic increased
as word spread and other sites linked to drbecky. I included a few efforts at personal blogging, and a series
of essays on transgender spirituality. The site has been
unchanged for a while, as work has taken priority, but
we still get a large number of “hits” and email. The
responses that mean the most are from persons who
say that my writing has inspired them to keep going,
to make their lives succeed.
You have been involved in advocacy work within
the American Medical Association (AMA) and
American Psychiatric Association (APA). Could
you tell us about your involvement with these
July 2016