Mollie Wallick was reared in the New Orleans Orthodox Community. Her successful experience with a handicapped child while Director of Communal Hebrew Nursery School led to an invitation to join the LSU Medical School Department of Psychiatry, as Educational Director of the Therapeutic Nursery School. After several years as a therapist with autistic children, Mollie's assignment at the Medical School changed to medical student education and counseling.
While counseling an isolated gay student, Mollie discovered her life's mission as an advocate for gays and lesbians. Since then, her work has been tireless: her activism, teaching, and writing effectively transformed the climate for lesbians and gays in academic medicine. An address she gave before the New Orleans City Council helped influence the Council to extend rights to gays in housing, public accommodations, and the workplace. She tries to increase tolerance and understanding of lesbians and gays in every environment she contacts—from the university to the synagogue. She says, "A core tenet of Judaism is welcoming the stranger. My hope is to broaden awareness, openness, and full acceptance of gays and lesbians in our community of faith."
Married for 58 years to the late Mervin Wallick, Mollie is the mother of three and grandmother of six. She credits the influence of her maternal grandfather, an honorary gabai-for-life at the Orthodox synagogue, with
instilling her humanist values. She views the secret to being a passionate activist for gay rights as being a caring person who genuinely values differences in people.
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