Winning the hearts, minds and pockets of Eastenders fans, the
show's most prominent gay couple Christian and Syed have helped
fans to raise a whopping £1800 for Stonewall in the nine days since
the fan group created their JustGiving page.
The couple, nicknamed 'Chryed', have been popular since their
relationship began in 2009.
The show's writers have used them to explore issues such as gay
adoption, and homophobia.
Syed has struggled with his sexuality and acceptance from his
Muslim parents Zainab and Masood.
"The inspiration for this fundraiser has been driven from the
BBC's flagship gay couple," fans on the fundraising page wrote.
"The Christian and Syed love story is a story that many have taken
to their hearts."
"Stonewall aims to help people every day, just like Christian
and Syed," one fan wrote. "They stand for equality and justice and
endeavour to bring to light the very oppressive attitudes and hate
crime that gay, lesbian, and bisexual people face on a day-to-day
basis.
"It could be a Syed that they are reaching to or a Christian -
or even a Zainab or a Masood by challenging their views on
homosexuality."
The lesbian, gay and bisexual charity raises awareness of
sexuality and equality in workplace and school environments amongst
others.
The fundraising efforts have been coordinated by a popular forum
on media site DigitalSpy. The forum, entitled 'Waiting for
Chryed to get it on' is one of the site's longest-running
conversations.
The fundraising video can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfFLfDYCT8c
To donate visit www.justgiving.com/katrinak
