Production for “Noah’s Arc,” the first television series chronicling the lives of black gay male characters, was temporarily shut down Aug. 5 after an impromptu protest led by a Nation of Islam minister who complained that the production crew didn’t include enough African Americans.

But officials for Logo, the channel on which “Noah’s Arc” begins airing in mid-October, said the protest was likely not over the show’s gay content and did not significantly interrupt the show’s taping.

“Production has been going very smoothly, and this was an isolated incident,” said David Bittler, a spokesperson for Logo. “We were up and running the next day.”

Bittler would not discuss the specific content of the protests, saying only that the network received “varying reports [about] a gentleman who did not want us filming in” Los Angeles’ South Central neighborhood.

Several Internet blogs from individuals involved with “Noah’s Arc” chronicled the Aug. 5 incident, during which Tony Muhammad, western regional director for the Nation of Islam, allegedly assembled more than 150 people in less than 15 minutes to protest what he perceived as a mostly non-black production crew filming in a predominately black neighborhood.

“Visibly disturbed at the thought of the black community being exploited by non-blacks, the Nation of Islam, under Tony Muhammad’s direction, stood vigilant, yelling, ‘Crackers,’ and other derogatory terms used to describe Caucasians,” Jasmyne Cannick, a black lesbian activist and author, wrote in an Aug. 10 blog.

Cannick, who is an occasional columnist for this newspaper, co-produced the pilot episodes of “Noah’s Arc” and serves as a consultant to the show’s creator and director, Patrick-Ian Polk, according to Bittler.

“Although the original protest was racially motivated, several members of the crew feel that the protesters did know that it was a gay show, and that caused more friction between the groups,” Cannick wrote. “One of the set assistants was referred to as a ‘sissy boy’ by Muhammad during the altercation.”

Officials at the Nation of Islam’s Chicago headquarters deferred questions about the incident to Muhammad, who did not respond to interview requests by press time.

Mike Elkin, a white crew member on set during the protest, said that protestors primarily objected to the crew’s skin color, but also criticized the show once they found out it was about black gay men.

“The mob also wasn’t too fond of us once they somehow learned that it was a gay show,” Elkin wrote on his blog.

But Polk, the director of “Noah’s Arc,” disputed that the protests had anything to do with the show’s gay themes.

“I’m pretty sure it was not motivated by the sexuality issue, because I’m not even sure they knew anything about the show or the subject matter,” Polk told Keith Boykin, a black gay activist and blogger.

“I definitely don’t think the sexuality thing was an issue, so I don’t think it should be made about that,” Polk reportedly told Boykin.

Polk is declining interviews about the incident, according to Bittler.

Both Cannick and Elkin wrote in their blogs that executives were reluctant to shoot the show in a predominately black neighborhood due to fears of a disturbance. Bittler disputed those claims.

“There’s absolutely no truth to that —those are individual’s mistaken opinions,” Bittler said. “We’ve been shooting in and around black areas, and we were shooting in Compton the very next day.”

Cannick originally attempted to mobilize a counter-protest, writing, “a clear, concise and swift message of disapproval needs to be sent to Muhammad and the Nation of Islam regarding this issue.”

In a brief telephone interview Monday, Cannick declined to discuss the incident but said there are no plans for a counter-protest.

Cannick’s initial blog raised concern among some black gay and lesbian activists, but the desire to mount a counter-protest subsided, Boykin said.

“It seemed like it was going to be this anti-gay incident, but then as we got more information it turns out it might be something different,” Boykin said Tuesday.

Ryan Lee can be reached at rlee@sovo.com.