British TV Show The EastEnders to feature gay Muslim storyline but Muslim group calls for a "normal character"
EastEnders is to screen a storyline involving a Muslim character who has a gay affair.
New character Syed Masood, a Muslim property developer who has a girlfriend, is to fall for openly gay Christian Clarke.
The couple will be shown kissing and 24-year-old Masood, played by Marc Elliott, finds his "religion and sexual feelings in conflict". But the Muslim Public Affairs Committee say that the BBC should have a "normal friendly Muslim character."
Last year, the BBC received more than 150 complaints over a gay kiss between Christian and Lee Thompson which was shown before the 9pm watershed.
Diederick Santer, the EastEnders executive producer, said BBC1 soap's production team had researched the plot while working with academics, gay Muslim support groups and the Muslim Council of Great Britain.
He said: "We've always tried to make EastEnders reflect modern life in multicultural Britain and we've always told social issue stories relevant to our diverse audience.
"This isn't a moral tale of right or wrong; it's very much a human interest story where a young man struggles with the conflict between his faith and his feelings.
"To all intents and purposes, Syed's a 'good' Muslim man: he doesn't drink, smoke or engage in sex before marriage. But he struggles with his sexuality when he finds himself drawn to Christian and he believes this goes against his faith.
"This is not a story about Syed and Christian's physical relationship – we don't see anything beyond one kiss. It's more about the inner turmoil and conflict Syed endures trying to remain true to his faith while questioning his sexuality.
"Syed has already been ostracised from his family and community once and if he's true to his heart he risks losing his family again."
But Asghar Bokhari of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee said: "The Muslim community deserves a character that represents them to the wider public because Islamophobia is so great right now.
"There's a lack of understanding of Muslims already and I think EastEnders really lost an opportunity to present a normal friendly Muslim character to the British public."
A survey published last month showed that UK Muslims have significantly less tolerance for homosexuality than their French and German counterparts.
The poll, part of the the Gallup Coexist Index 2009, found that not one of the 1,001 British Muslims interviewed believed homosexual acts were morally acceptable.
Isn't it great that the Muslim character, Syed, is in love with a man named "Christian"?
That is LOL funny.
The Muslim Public Affairs Community UK response to this is hilarious also. They want a more sympathetic character because they are afraid a gay character will stoke the "Islamophobia" boogeyman. Instead, if the MPCUK understood anything about public relations, they would understand that this Syed character is actually a leftist attempt to humanize Muslims.
Oh, the irony.
But, of course, the MPCUK is not really interested in public relations as anything more than a ploy they use to promote Sharia law in the United Kingdom.
As I said, they can do the gay thing ...
- And Here It Is, The Inevitable - Muslims Are Afraid Of A Backlash Of Islamophobia In The Wake Of The Latest Islam-inspired Atrocities And Crimes Against Humanity - Article
Crimes against humanity are certain acts which are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population or an identifiable part of a population. From Reuters: DEARBORN, Mich. (Reuters) - Muslim Americans fear...
- Boston Globe Runs Taqqiya About Muslim Ms. Marvel
The Boston Globe, that most ultra-leftist paper in New England, ran some propaganda by an Indonesian writer about the Muslim Ms. Marvel, and the taqqiya includes: The new Ms. Marvel tackles both stereotypes of both oppressed Muslim women and terrorists....
- Bizarre Tattoo Diversity In Green Lantern
In DC's latest upcoming publicity stunt for diversity's sake, they're coming up with a GL member who may or may not be a Muslim (and still no Armenian characters anywhere in sight), with a tattoo of the Arabic word for courage on his right...
- Storm Track Disinformation: Speaking Of Muslim Tolerance
Syed Soharwardy is organizing Calgary's first ever Muslim women's convention. Here’s the 411 on the conference from Sun Media. "Muslim women are equal participants in our affairs, are equally respected in the Muslim community," said Soharwardy....
- Storm Track Infiltration: Letting The Camel’s Nose Into The Tent
From The Gathering Storm There's an old Arab saying that warns, "Don't let the camel's nose into your tent. Once the nose is in, the rest of the camel will follow."Britain has a camel problem. A big camel problem. A form of jihad is starting...