Local leaders on why Michelle Kosilek is not the problem
Posted by Jim Lopata December 19, 2012 11:31 PM
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/blogs/bostonspirit/2012/12/local_leaders_on_why_michelle.htmlHer case may not be the most publicly appealing, but it's pretty much a slam-dunk case of legal injustice
NOTE: The following is a story slated to run in the upcoming January/February 2013 issue of Boston Spirit magazine. We are running it here and now to include in the continuing coverage of the Michelle Kosilek case, including today's story from the Metro Desk of the Globe.
Every time Michelle Kosilek makes headlines, Gunner Scott's phone rings off the hook.
Kosilek is in prison for committing a murder. By law, all prisoners are entitled to medically necessary procedures. For Kosilek, that means gender reassignment treatments. A U.S. District court has unequivocally stated that withholding treatment is a "violation of Kosilek's Eighth Amendment right to adequate medical care." For the judicial system, the case is a no brainer.
For just about everyone else the case can be confusing at a minimum, and downright infuriating at its worst. And some of those most disturbed by the case are often those who, like Kosilek, identify as transgender.
Gunner Scott, as executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political coalition, fields a number of these calls from frustrated and angry members of the transgender community who pepper him with questions like: Why is Kosilek up for getting treatment paid for by the state that they themselves can't get from their own health insurance? Do I need to go to jail to get the health care that I need? How did a murderer become the face of transgender health care rights?
