James Lopata

Michelle Kosilek is an unlikely advocate for LGBT equality. Convicted for murder and spending time in a designated all-male prison, Kosilek is suing for her right to receive gender reassignment surgery, to allow her physical body to match who she has discovered herself to be: a woman. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts refuses to pay for the medical procedure. Most recently, on January 17, 2014, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals declared in favor of Kosilek’s surgery, stating, “DOC has violated Kosilek’s Eighth Amendment rights.” The state is appealing the verdict.

Local gay and lesbian Islamic faithful are challenging traditional views of homosexuality both here and abroad In the fall of 1997, 19-year-old Faisal Alam entered...