The intersection of religion and homosexuality is almost always a difficult crossroad.

Gay and lesbin Muslims have certainly felt more than their fair share of the strain of religious intolerance both as homosexuals viewed with disdain by most Muslims, and as Muslims who, now more than ever, often feel outcast by other gays and lesbians.

Despite the difficulties, gay and lesbian Muslims deserve to hold onto both their faith and their love. And soon, a gay imam, as Muslim religious leaders are known, plans to emerge to help bridge both sides of the chasm surrounding gay and lesbian Muslims.

"It's time for a new perspective on wht it means to be Muslim and homosexual," says the man I'll call Mohammed, a 48-year-old African American lawyer with a football-player's build.

Though many of the teachers and fellow students at the Northern Virginia university where Mohammed is currently studying for his Masters in Islamic Sciences know he is gay, he asked that his real name not be used at this time. With just one course left to take until he completes his studies at the end of the summer, Mohammed doubts that coming out now would jeopardize his graduation or his induction as an imam. But he doesn't want to take any chances. The stakes are just too high.

Besides, there will be plenty of chances to take on homophobia as an openly gay imam, he chuckles during a phone interview from his home in Washington, D.C. He's well aware that his coming out as a gay imam; something he plans to do immediately upon graduation, he says "will be a lightning rod of controversy."

"But there has to be room for a more open interpretation of Islam than the one handed to us by religious scholars who lived more than more than 1200 years ago," he says. "And that interpretation has to come from those of us who are both Muslim and gay."

He is optimistic that he will be met with greater acceptance than might be expected. He's come out to the Muslim community before, with surprising support. While he was an undergraduate at Georgetown University in the late 1980's, some members of the Muslim Student Association, to which he belonged, proposed protesting a gay and lesbian event on campus. "I spoke up against the proposal, and used the opportunity to come out as a gay Muslim and discuss what it meant." The Muslim Student Association voted against holding an anti-gay protest, and, says Mohammed, "I earned the respect of the group: including that of the group's imam."

Mohammed believes the more progressive attitude of Islam toward gays and lesbians must originate in the West, where individuality and freedom of speech are protected. In many predominantly Muslim countries, he concedes, being openly gay can be dangerous. However, he also believes strongly that "Islam itself is no more or less homophobic than any other religion. It's all in the interpretation."

To bolster this view, he points out that Islam adopted its primary admonition against homosexuality from the Bible: the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. The difference between, say, some of the more liberal attitudes on homosexuality by a number of Christian ministers compared to the predominantly conservative attitude among Muslim clerics isn't in the details of the story itself, but in the contemporary interpretation of it.

Much of what is commonly referred to as "Islamic teachings" against homosexuality are not religion-based, but culture-based, he says, and most places where Islam is the dominant religion remain traditional cultures. As a man who will be an imam, Mohammed feels a particular responsibility to speak up as a gay Muslim. As an out Muslim leader, hopes not only to push the Muslim establishment toward a more tolerant view of gays, but also to show gay and lesbian Muslims that they can be true both to their faith and to themselves.

"Gay Muslims need to see this happening, so they are aware of the possibilities" of their religion, he says.

Mohammed, who was raised a Christian and converted to Islam as a 34-year-old adult in 1988, knows well the personal struggle many experience in being gay and Muslim. Before his conversion, as a student of many different religions, he, too, wrestled with the apparent contradiction of being gay and being a good Muslim.

"Then I realized that Islam is so much more than the narrow interpretation against homosexuality" that has been assigned to it, he says. Despite the widely â€"held anti-gay sentiment, he chose Islam because "its form of prayer and its teachings on daily life struck a more personal chord for me" than did the teachings of other religions.

While studying Islam, he says he came to the realization that "the Koran teaches a lot of things about relationships that apply to whether we are heterosexual or homosexual. I found I could extrapolate the rules of the Koran to be inclusive, rather than exclusive."

Mohammed hopes, too, his being out as a gay imam will ease some of the "misconceptions and stereotypes about Muslims" in the gay and lesbian community. Mohammed, who has a beard and typically dresses in traditional Muslim garb, says he sometimes feels as much at odds with the gay community about being Muslim as he does with the Muslim community about being gay, particularly since the terrorist attacks of September 11.

"I've heard a lot of misplaced hatred against Muslims from the gay community," he says sadly. Not long ago, he overheard a conversation at a local gay coffee house that "basically had the theme, ^~Why we should imprison Muslims in America.^TM"

In addition, he has been profiled by an airline while boarding a flight to Amsterdam, and was even accosted on the street by a man who screamed "Osama bin Laden!" while lunging at him. (Mohammed used his size and his umbrella to ward off the attack.)

Asked which would be the greater challenge, coming out to Muslims or combating anti-Muslim stereotypes among gays, Mohammed responded with the typical hearty laugh that punctuated much of our conversation. With patience and determination, "both should be possible," he said in his strong and characteristically optimistic voice. "God willing."

Author's Note: When Mohammed does come out at the end of the summer, he has promised to grant me another interview. Look here for the follow-up to his amazing story of strength and courage.