EastEnders newcomer Marc Elliott is to star in a controversial storyline which sees his Muslim character Syed Masood kiss another man.
Syed, the oldest Masood child, will kiss openly homosexual character Christian Clarke (John Partridge) in a new plot, which starts next month.
After the BBC confirmed the new storyline this week, some Muslim bodies have already criticised the plot.
Warwickshire-born actor Elliott, who joined EastEnders as the Masood's mysterious long-lost son in April, has praised the soap's writers for tackling a sensitive subject.
He said: 'I think EastEnders would be doing the programme a disservice if they didn't give a voice to various communities.
'I think that's really important because I think London is a very ethnically diverse multicultural place, and EastEnders has a job to reflect that in the storylines it gives people and the characters they have on board.'
Asghar Bokhari from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee said: '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.'
The soap's executive producer Diedrick Santer, said he believes the controversial issue needs to be highlighted, despite risk of offending some religious viewers.
Upset: Muslim couple Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra) and Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia) are likely to disapprove of their son's sexuality
He said: 'Sometimes there's a danger of being too careful with black or Asian characters that we might go into territories that might offend.
'But it seems to me if we steer away from any controversy, they don't stand a chance of being a great EastEnders family - they'll just be in their kitchen unit making curries for years and years and that's not going to be very interesting.
'This isn't a moral tale of right or wrong; it's very much a human interest story where a young man struggles with the conflict between his faith and his feelings.
'This is not a story about Syed and Christian's physical relationship - we don't see anything beyond one kiss.
'It's more about the inner turmoil and conflict Syed endures trying to remain true to his faith while questioning his sexuality.'
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