Gay Muslim Storyline for EastEnders

BBC One soap EastEnders is to tackle the tricky subject of homosexuality and Islam as one of the soaps characters embarks on a gay affair.

EastEnders is to feature a Gay Muslin storyline as newcomer Syed Masood begins to question his sexuality after falling for, and kissing, openly gay Christian Clarke. However, Syed’s feelings and confusion surrounding his sexuality will be further complicated by his religious beliefs. The plot is expected to begin next month and is bound to cause controversy within some quarters. While gay storylines are no longer as controversial as they were back in the 1980s, when EastEnders featured its first gay storyline and romance, the upcoming storyline could still prove to be a difficult one for EastEnders. It has already been criticised by some within the Muslim community.

 

“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.”  Asghar Bokhari, Muslin Public Affairs Committee quoted on BBC News.

 

Syed Masood [Marc Elloit] recently made his first appearance on EastEnders trying to make amends with the rest of his family after a disagreement had alienated them for some time. The Masood family joined EastEnders in 2007 and were the first Muslim family introduced by producers since the poorly received Ferreira family several years before.