Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila have spoken out about Egypt’s anti-LGBT crackdown and how it was sparked by events that took place at their in Cairo.
In an interview , openly gay singer Hamed Sinno has described how the joyous event turned into a national controversy.
"The concert itself for us was just magical," Sinno recalls to Rolling Stone with a heavy sigh. "It felt like such a loving, happy audience. It's been really difficult, sort of hitting that high and then having it get perverted into what it is now.”
A group of people attending the concert at the Music Park Festival waved rainbow flags in celebration and footage of the event went viral. As a result, at least seven people were tracked down and arrested for ‘promoting sexual deviancy’.
In the weeks that have followed, the events at the Mashrou’ Leila concert have served as a “green light” for authorities to target the LGBT+ community. Amnesty International that at least 57 people have now been arrested because of their perceived sexuality or gender identity.
Members of Mashrou’ Leila were unaware of the arrests, having boarded a plane to the United States for a country-wide tour.
"By the time we got off the plane everything had sort of gone to shit," Sinno says. "We automatically got in touch with as many activists and reporters that we know in Egypt on the ground, and no one was able to verify anything for a few days. People didn't know if the arrests were actually happening.”
Sinno adds that the crackdown made the band re-consider the political and human rights focused nature of their music.
"A big part of what we do and why we address politics and gender and class and whatever – be that through our music and through our positions in the public eye – a big part of that is about trying to create sort of a cultural roster for people to identify with and feel emboldened by. And it felt like for a few days, we had to doubt whether we were actually doing that, or if we were just feeding the trolls.”
Sinno says that it’s important for conversations to take place about the dire state of LGBT+ rights.
"The amount of hate that you would be able to see on social media is a testament to how necessary it is to constantly have that conversation in the public domain," Sinno says.
"We're talking about victimless actions between consenting adults, and this kind of hate is completely irrational. So on the one hand, that debate obviously needs to be happening. But on the other hand, it's also really important for us and for the LGBTQ-plus community to have access to images of itself that are self-authored, that are not coming from a place of hate and condemnation, that are just about people having their lives and doing their work and surviving.”
The band recently broke their silence on the issue on their , denouncing the reported acts of Egyptian authorities.
“We cannot begin to explain how saddened we are to see yet another era of backwards tyranny creep over one of our most beloved countries and audiences.
“This crackdown is by no means separable from the suffocating atmosphere of fear and abuse experienced by all Egyptians on a daily basis, regardless of their sexual orientations.
“We denounce the demonisation and prosecution of victimless acts between consenting adults.”
