Imagine growing up in a community that treated you like a 'black sheep', banned you from places of worship, while others attacked you and sprayed the word 'fag' on your front door.
This was the experience 24-year-old Jahed Choudhury had growing up in a traditional Bangladeshi Muslim family, which forced him to go on a religious pilgrimage to change his sexuality and even led him to try to take his own life to escape the daily discrimination.
'I stood out like a sore thumb — I never liked football, I preferred watching fashion shows on TV. I remember feeling trapped,' he said according to the Telegraph.
'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,' he added.
Well, now Jared and his husband Sean Rogan have become the first same-sex couple in the UK to wed in a Muslim ceremony.
The wedding recently took place at the Walsall registry office, Darlaston where Rogan and Choudhury wore traditional Muslim attire in front of friends and family.
Choudhury is thought to be one of the first openly-gay Muslim men in the UK to marry another man.
The pair – who have been together for two years – met after Choudhury had taken an overdose and Rogan approached him to check if he was okay.
'I'd not long overdosed and I was crying on a bench and Sean came over and asked if I was okay. He gave me hope at one of my lowest points and he's stood by me all the way,' Choudhury said.
Before meeting, Choudhury had reportedly tried to 'change' his sexuality by having a girlfriend, changing his friends, taking medication and embarking on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.
He said: 'I'd been viciously attacked by Muslim boys, my mosque told me non-Muslims were not allowed in.
'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,' he added.
Following their nuptials, the couple – who plan to celebrate their wedding with a big party and a week's holiday in Spain – admitted they want their union to help people understand that homosexuality isn't a phase, and to encourage other gay men and women to accept who they are, no matter what their religious affiliation.
Chowdhury, who admits he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of discrimination and abuse for being gay, said: 'This is about showing people I don't care. My family...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 it's okay — we're going to show the whole world that you can be gay and Muslim,' he added.
Congratulations Jared and Sean!
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
