<Tr> <Th> Known for </Th> <Td> Second openly transgender woman to have played a transgender character on television </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Partner (s) </Th> <Td> Chrisanne Blankenship (m . 1995) </Td> </Tr> <P> Alexandra Scott Billings (born March 28, 1962) is an American actress, teacher, singer, and activist . Billings is among the first openly transgender women to have played a transgender character on television, which she did in the 2005 made - for - TV movie Romy and Michele: In The Beginning . She is also known for portraying the recurring character Davina in the Amazon series Transparent and has played transgender characters in ER, Eli Stone, How to Get Away with Murder and Grey's Anatomy . </P> <P> Billings' father, Robert Billings, was a music teacher at Los Angeles Harbor College and the musical director for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, which influenced her interest in theater . She assisted, working backstage with Carol Burnett and Yul Brynner . She also appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar and The Roar of the Greasepaint--the Smell of the Crowd . In her early life, Billings struggled with homelessness, prostitution, and cocaine and opioid addiction . </P>

Who plays the transgender on grey's anatomy