EastEnders Actor Marc Elliot 'Abused in the Street' for Gay Character
PINK NEWS: Marc Elliot, the actor who plays gay Muslim Syed in EastEnders, has revealed he gets regular abuse in the street for playing a gay character.

Syed began an affair with Christian (John Partridge) last year. When his mother found out in December, he was forced into marrying a woman.

Elliot said: "Since playing Syed I have really got it in the neck when I'm out. A lot of people are supportive but there is still a huge amount of negativity." >>> PinkNews.co.uk Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 19, 2010

What's It Like Being a Gay Muslim?
THE GUARDIAN: EastEnders' current romantic storyline featuring a gay Muslim character has caused a stir. But what is it really like to be gay within Britain's Muslim communities?

Pav Akhtar is not usually a fan of soaps. But the 30-year-old local councillor and Unison worker has been paying special attention since EastEnders introduced its first gay Muslim character. Akhtar, the chair of Imaan, an organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims, advised the BBC on the storyline in the hope that the character of Syed Masood would help tackle the double discrimination of homophobia and Islamophobia that many gay Muslims face.

The Muslim theologian Amanullah De Sondy said recently that the vast majority of Muslims were "deeply homophobic", and a survey carried out this summer among British Muslims reported that 0% of those questioned thought homosexuality was "morally acceptable". Yet, so far, the taboo-busting EastEnders storyline has not sparked the expected deluge of complaints – in fact, the soap's first gay Muslim kiss attracted a healthy 7.9 million viewers. But what is it like being gay and Muslim in the UK today? >>> Homa Khaleeli | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Socialists They Are and Socialists They’ll Be!
MAIL Online: The BBC and Channel 4 could be forced to use more female and ethnic characters and presenters in TV shows under controversial reforms of equality laws.

The change could hit programmes such as Top Gear, which has an all-male presenting team, and EastEnders, which has screened episodes featuring all-black, all-Asian and all-female casts.

State-funded organisations are being ordered to boost the proportion of female, black and gay staff to reflect the make-up of the UK population under plans unveiled by Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman. Now Even Top Gear Could Fall Foul of Harman Sexism Law >>> By Ian Drury and Sarah Harris | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

BBC in Hot Water over Gay Kiss on EastEnders Before Watershed
Photo courtesy of the Mail Online
MAIL Online: The BBC has been flooded with 145 complaints after screening a gay kiss on EastEnders before the 9pm watershed.

The 'offensive' scenes were screened on Tuesday's episode of the soap and showed Christian Clarke (John Partridge, 36) and Lee Thompson (Carl Ferguson, 27) engage in a passionate kiss.

In a statement the BBC defended itself by saying it was down to parents to decide whether the content of the show was suitable for children to watch.

But some viewers were left deeply unimpressed.

One viewer wrote on the BBC’s Points Of View internet messageboard: 'I am appalled by the display of homosexual kissing before the watershed shown on EastEnders.

'This is disgraceful whilst young children are watching and sets the wrong example.'

Another, Pat, wrote: 'I had to explain to my seven-year-old son what was happening.

'He now thinks he is gay because he kisses his dad.' Complaints Pour into BBC after EastEnders Screens Gay Kiss Before the Watershed >>> | October 9, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) / Free delivery >>>

Muslim Anger Alert! BBC Inundated with Complaints after EastEnders Shows Muslim Snacking During Ramadan
MAIL Online: The BBC has received more than 100 complaints after EastEnders showed a Muslim breaking their Ramadan fast by eating a snack on the soap opera.

It is believed that a large number of Muslims were angered by the recent storyline involving character Masood Ahmed claiming it insulted their religion.

The married Asian postman, played by Nitin Ganatra, was spotted by wheel-chair bound character Ian Beale having a bite to eat during the holy month.

During Ramadan, which ended earlier this week, Muslims are not meant to eat or drink between the hours of dawn and sunset.

The plot was meant to show the character's 'fallibility' according to bosses, but it seems to have backfired with a number of the soap's loyal viewers.

As a result of the short scene, aired earlier this month, the corporation received about 110 complaints amid claims it had been wrong and offensive.

Some complained that it had trivialised a very serious religious experience while others are understood to have said it was not realistic.

Now the BBC has been forced to issue a statement saying it did not mean to cause any offence by the storyline.

A BBC spokesman said: 'Although Masood is a practising Muslim he is not intended to be representative of the British Muslim experience.

'He's a fictional character with flaws who realises he has let himself down in a moment of weakness.'

The soap showed the character being repentant for what he had done. … [Source: Mail Online] By Paul Revoir | October 2, 2008

Comment and read the rest of the story (which is not related to Islam) here.

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