Thomas Mauchline wanted to do his part to dispel anti-Muslim sentiment in London.
Like many in England's multi-cultural capital, the 25-year-old Brit was inspired by a bystander's reaction to Saturday's tube stabbing, who yelled, "You ain't no Muslim bruv!" at the masked man who police say committed an act of terror.
So Mauchline, who is gay and lives across the street from a mosque, penned a blog post about his experiences with Muslims in South London that has since gone viral.
The post, titled, "15 things I learnt about Islam and British values being a gay boy living opposite a mosque," has been shared widely on Facebook and Twitter and hailed by UK politicians for helping to dismantle the stereotype of Muslims as extremists.
In a grumpy twitter week, this is lovely (esp 12). I also live across from a mosque - but don't dance in drag.Much. https://t.co/nnWWj8XPIN— Ruth Davidson MSP (@RuthDavidsonMSP) December 6, 2015
It's a truthful and hilarious look at a culture of tolerance in the international city.
"I woke up on Sunday and saw the videos from Leytonstone with the guy telling the attacker that 'You ain't a Muslim bruv' and I thought it was just very London," Mauchline told Mashable. "It reminded me of all these quite funny, positive experiences I had been having with my Muslim neighbours over the last 4 years -- so thought I would share with my friends online."
The power of the unexpected https://t.co/bA7OPAnc0V— Suzanne Evans (@SuzanneEvans1) December 6, 2015
The hilarious and insightful post features facts like: "When confronted with something out of their comfort zone, like me and my boyfriend in full drag dancing down the road, Muslims like all British people get flustered and over compensate with being overly polite -- a bit like Hugh Grant."
This really is cracking. And bear in mind he wrote it after a night out at @SinkThePinkLDN!— Tom Copley (@tomcopley) December 6, 2015
Number 12 on the list was especially popular: "British people’s dry sarcasm works really well when confronting the times the more traditional parts of Islam come face-to-face with modern gay culture. For example when I donated three sequined crop tops to the Islamic relief Syria clothing drive, one of the older guys their smirked, shaking my hand and saying 'our brothers and sisters in Syria thank you for the evening wear.'"
Mauchline, who is originally from the town of Stourbridge, said he was initially hesitant to move across from the South London Islamic Center.
"The media stories about Islam meant that I was genuinely a little nervous about moving in across the road to a mosque," he explained in the post. "What I have learnt in the four years since I moved is that the ridiculousness of British culture is universal. We all love tea, are really polite and tut rather than saying something, no matter our religion."
Mauchline told Mashable that gay people from across the UK reached out to him after he wrote the post saying they have had similar experiences in their own communities. He even had a chance to speak with the imam of the mosque on Monday morning, when they appeared together on London radio station LBC together.
"He really liked the article, which is awesome," said Mauchline.