"Eastenders" courts more gay controversy by outing a new Muslim character

John Partridge and Carl Ferguson in last year's controversial kiss

There's been a lot of talk recently about the relative institutionalized homophobia of various religious groups, with a recent study showing that Muslims in the UK are less tolerant of homosexuality than Muslims in other parts of Europe.

Surprising, then, that the long-running Brit soap Eastenders has recently introduced a Muslim character that will turn out to be gay. Less surprising? Muslim groups ain't too chuffed about it.

Spoilery details follow...

Marc Elliot as Syed

The soap is set to out a character named Syed Masood, who arrived with a girlfriend but will soon fall for openly gay character Christian Clarke (John Partridge). Masood (who is played by Marc Elliot) will of course be conflicted about his feelings and his religious beliefs.

The Muslim Affairs Committee is upset about the choice, and has made a statement that the show should instead present a "normal, friendly" Muslim character. I'm not getting where Masood isn't going to be friendly, and he's definitely going to be friendly to Christian, as the two are slated to share an on-air kiss. Let's not forget that last year the show caused a stir when it had Christian kiss another man, Lee (Carl Ferguson), on a parkbench in broad daylight, instead of in an alley behind a dumpster at 4AM, where kissing gays belong.

Have any of our UK readers been following the show lately? What do you think of Elliot thus far, and are you optimistic about the storyline? A shot in the arm for diversity, or a ripped-from-the-headlines stunt?