Summer 2002 Issue

Ch-Ch-Changes- Mel Vassey DVM

I had a very strange experience the other day. I had run to the nearby food co-op to get a few things. Before I went to the checkout stand I decided to check out the Ben & Jerry’s in the freezer case. I never quite made it there, though, because a guy passed by me who stopped me in my tracks. After a moment’s hesitation, I turned around and followed him back to the checkout stand to introduce myself.

I know what you’re thinking, but Mike was a high school classmate of mine. Our names were right next to each other in the alphabet and we were pretty close to one another academically, so we shared a number of classes from 8^th through 12^thgrades. When you’re a boy who likes boys growing up in South Carolina, high school is not avery happy time in your life, so I hadn’t really made much effort to keep in touch with anyone I knew then. I hadn’t seen him since graduation 16 years ago and it was a bit of a shock to run into him in my new home city, 500 miles and so many years from where we onceknew each other.

It turns out we both came to Pittsburgh for love - he for his now wife, who’s doing a Ph.D. in computer science at Carnegie-Mellon, and me for my partner, Scott, who’s doing his residency training at the University of Pittsburgh. I, of course, came out to him without hesitation, and he, of course, didn’t bat an eyelash at the disclosure. I suppose the fact that he was buying a case of organic yogurt in a food co-op might have been a clue that he was "safe" to tell, but it struck me later that my casually coming out as a simple matter of fact is a pretty profound change on several levels.

Sixteen years ago I was a scared kid, trying to convince myself that I was just going through a phase and that I really could conform to theconservative Calvinist mold myfamily had chosen for me. Now mypartner and I have exchanged ringsand bought a home together, andeach of us has been welcomed intothe other’s family.

Sixteen years ago I watched moreflamboyant students get harassedout of school, and gay awarenessmeant knowing the latest RockHudson jokes. Today LGBT peopleare more and more in the main-stream.Schools may not be safehavens yet, but there is a world ofresources for LGBT young peoplethat didn’t exist then, and schooldistricts are much less likely to turna blind eye to harassment andviolence, for fear of lawsuit ifnothing else.

Most major corporations offerdomestic partner benefits and havenondiscrimination policies thatinclude sexual orientation. Aslowly growing number of statesalso have laws prohibiting discrimi-nationbased on sexual orientation.Our most populous state, Califor-nia,recently passed domesticpartner legislation which, thoughnot as far-reaching as Vermont’scivil union law, is at least a signifi-cantstep in the right direction forthat state’s 92,000+ same sexcouples.

Now, none of these changes oc-curredin a vacuum but are, rather,the cumulative effect of multiplesmaller changes. And if, as thephilosophers suggest, change isinevitable, it still does not occurwithout effort. Every gain made bythe LGBT community in the pastthree decades has been due to thecollective efforts, both big andsmall, of countless people. Lobby-inglegislatures alone would havegotten us nowhere if there weren’talso millions of us introducing ourgirl/boyfriends to our families,buying homes & insurance policiestogether, getting to know ourneighbors, talking about our dateswith coworkers - basically doingthe same things that our heterocounterparts do without a thoughtevery single day.

As my term as President of this associationis coming to an end, I’ve been reflecting onthe nature of change what this means withrespect to LGVMA. What changes have weexperienced as an organization and wheredo we need to go from here?

The first part of that question is easy. We have, over the years, steadily gained recognition by the AVMA and the profession at large; we have been working towards gender parity on the Board and are poised to have our first woman President; we supported the Healthy Pets, Healthy People project - which has since been adopted by the CDC - to develop a resource for health care workers who deal with immunocompromised pet owners; and we have nurtured and developed a successful scholarship program for veterinary students, among other things.

The second part of the question, however, has to be answered by you. What does LGVMA need to do to meet your needs as a member? How can we support you? Where would you like to see us go as an organization? These are not questions that I, or the Board, can answer alone. It requires a little effort on the part of the rest of the membership, as well. We hope to soon have a membership survey ready to get your input on how LGVMA can better serve you. When you get it, please take the time to fill it out and return it. You can also contact us via e-mail or snail mail at any time, or you can take the time to join us at our Annual Meeting, which is always held in conjunction with AVMA Convention. Remember, this is your organization, and we can only change to meet your evolving needs if you take the time to let us know what those needs are.

Have a safe and wonderful summer!

Is the Veterinary Profession Undergoing a Sex Change?

Currently in the United States:

Most veterinary students are women, and by 2005 women will bethe majority in the profession, according to the AVMA.

The number of female veterinarians has doubled since 1991, while the number of male veterinarians has dropped by 15%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

By the late 1990s, 70% of vet school applicants were women incontrast to only 5% in the late 1960s.

In contrast to veterinary schools, legal and medical schools are made up of about 50% women in the student body, probably due to the growing disparity in salaries between veterinarians and physicians. Men purportedly feel a greater obligation for a higher income level in order to support a family.

Women are reportedly less inclined to pursue farm animal practice, and some fear there may eventually be a shortage of veterinarians in those industries. Since the 1960s. there has been a major shift in income from primarily farm animal services to approximately 70% pet animal services.

From "Women Soon to Be Majority of Veterinarians" by Yilu Zhao, as published in the NYTimes.com, dated June 09, 2002. The New York Times article also includes some quotes fromLGVMA Achievement winner Stephanie Wong DVM.

Robin Downing, DVM Extraordinaire

Last August, Dr. Robin Downing, an LGVMA member living in Windsor, Colorado, received the 2001 World Small Animal Veterinary Association/Hill’s Award for Excellence in VeterinaryHealthcare.

After graduating from veterinary school at the University of Illinois in 1986, Dr. Downing spent five years working as the first and only woman veterinarian in a 100-mile radius of Worland, Wyoming. In 1991, she purchased the Windsor Veterinary Clinic and by 1994 her practice won a Practice of Excellence award by AAHA. She was named Colorado VMA’s Up and Coming Veterinarian of the Year in 1995, Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year by the Association for Women Veterinarians in 1996, received a regional Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from Working Woman Magazine in 1999, and named the Hill’s Animal Welfare and Humane Ethics Award winner in 2000.

Dr. Downing is also a regular contributing author and serves on the editorial advisory board to Veterinary Economics Magazine, is a featured weekly columnist in The Denver Post, authored a selection in Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul, and wrote a book titled Pets Living With Cancer: A Pet Owner’s Resource. As if all that isn’t enough, she also serves as a trustee for the Morris Animal Foundation.

What an inspirational role model. Congratulations on your accomplishments, Dr. Robin Downing!

LGVMA’s Dr. Richard Coburn on HBO’s Six Feet Under

On Sunday, April 14 at 10:00 PM, Richard Coburn, DVM, attended the funeral of MarkShapiro on HBO’s award-winning series, Six Feet Under. He plays a mourner in the funeral scene. Dr. Coburn explains:

"Every fall for the past 15 years my partner, Paul Ramsey, and I have attended a flea market and auction in Shubert Alley in Times Square, New York City benefiting the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids organiza-tions. We often purchase small items that will become Christmas presents for family and friends. One year we even bid on and won an original Hirshfeld print of and autographed by the principal cast of the Broadway show, Victor/Victoria. It sure is nice to have Julie Andrews in one’s living room!

This past fall we had been standing under an umbrella in the rain for two hours when they introduced for auction a walk-on part for an episode of my favorite TV program, Six Feet Under. Included were airfare for two on Continental Airlines and 3 nights in the Hollywood Suites Hotel. Given the other "big" items auctioned that day, such as a walk-on part for the TV series Friends or the Broadway shows, Cabaret and 42nd Street, I calculated that the Six Feet Under package would go for about $5000. I wasn’t sure where the money would comefrom. I just thought, "if I am going to do this, I have to do it now. This is not the dressrehearsal. This is life and I only have one shot at it. I will just put-it-on-the-card andworry about it later." The bidding went very fast and before I knew it there was a pause. The auctioneer, Lorna Kelly, who was volunteering from Sothebys, had just announced the bidding at $4500. I raised my hand and said, "five thousand." A woman who had been standing next to me all afternoon leaned toward me and said, "Don’t bid any more. I will get it foryou. I said, "WHAT ?" She said, "Don’t bid anymore," and before I knew it, the auctioneer exclaimed, "Sold for $5800!"

The woman next to me then said, "Come with me." We walked over to the administrative area where I signed all the papers and she paid the entire $5800 with her gold credit card. The woman had a tax deduction and Paul & I had a trip to Hollywood! I turned and asked her, "What is your name? Can I take you to dinner?" She said, "I am sorry. I cannot. I am late and must meet my brother. Goodbye." She turned and disappeared into the crowd.