A GAY Muslim man who “quit” his family said he needed to prioritise his own happiness.

Mufseen Miah, who is from a religious family in Hove, made the decision to step away from his family in December as he felt he could not be himself in the Bangladeshi community.

The 28-year-old said: “As an LGBT person I wanted to live an authentic life which is true to myself, but this is difficult to do in a British Bangladeshi community where talking about LBGT identities is taboo.

“I maintained a relationship with my family after coming out, but it has got to a point where I’m still editing my behaviour around them.

“So I decided to completely reduce contact with my family.

“I didn’t want to do it because I love them and they are an important part of my life, but to prioritise my own health it was an important thing to do.”

On the same day that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would take a step back from their Royal Family duties, Mufseen tweeted: “Last week I quit my family and I’m happier for it.”

Mufseen, who lives in London and works as a chartered accountant, believes Bangladeshi communities need to be more supportive.

He said: “I do see progress in the Bangladeshi community, but it’s very slow.

“In a lot of south Asian communities we expect our children to be perfect and any deviation from that is shameful. But we need to allow people to be individuals.”

Mufseen is involved with a lot of LGBT activism in London and said a high number of LGBT people suffer with mental health problems.

He also believes there should be more representations of gay Muslims in the media.

Mufseen said: “When I was growing up I never saw any gay Muslims on TV.

“That would have helped massively as I would have felt less isolated.

“There are charities like the LBGT Switchboard, which is like a Samaritans service, and they do really good work.

“When you’re faced with these issues it’s really easy to think you’re on your own, but it’s important to seek out support.”