Youtube/Express and StarTwo men want to ‘show the world’ you can be gay and Muslim as they celebrate the first gay Muslim marriage in the UK.
The happy grooms, Jahed Choudhury, 24, and Sean Rogan, 19, tied the knot in Walsall registry office in traditional Muslim dress.
The couple have been together for two years after they met when Sean found Jahed crying on a bench in Darlaston, West Midlands.
Growing up with Bangladeshi parents and three siblings in a traditional Muslim household, Jahed told the Express and Star how he felt like ‘black sheep of the family’.
He said:
I stood out like a sore thumb – I never liked football, I preferred watching fashion shows on TV. I remember feeling trapped.
Youtube/Express and StarHe also said he’d been bullied at secondary school, adding:
It went all over school, people would spit on me, empty the rubbish bins on me, call me pig and the Muslim people would shout ‘harum’ – which is a very nasty insult in my language.
Jahed said things just got worse, he said he was assaulted by fellow Muslims in the street where he lived and ‘fag’ was sprayed on his front door.
Youtube/Express and StarHe was no longer allowed in the mosque he’d been attending for the past 15 years and he was physically attacked by other Muslim boys.
Jahed then attempted to end his life
He said:
I tried killing myself and I then met Sean. The housing association got us a house in a week and we’ve been living together ever since. I proposed on Sean’s birthday last June.
Mr Choudhury says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and struggles to face people alone and can’t work. But he has taken a significant step forward for both the Muslim and LGBT communities.
Youtube/Express and StarHe said:
We’re going to have a big party in Darlaston afterwards and go to Spain for a week on holiday.
This is about showing people I don’t care, my family doesn’t want to come on the day, they just don’t want to see it, it’s too embarrassing for them.
They think it’s a disease and can be cured, some of my family still call it a phase.
I want to say to all people going through the same thing that’s it’s okay – we’re going to show the whole world that you can be gay and Muslim.
Amazing, wish you both a happy marriage!
