A Lebanese Rocker Caught in a Human Rights Incident Over Rainbow Flags
"She’s like, ‘Stay in the states!’ ‘I can’t afford a house here, woman!’ She’s like, ‘I’ll buy you a house!’" But Mr. Sinno, who has dual Lebanese and United States citizenship, doesn’t feel much more at ease in America than he does in the Middle East, saying
that the "in your face" racism he encounters here is at least as bad as the homophobia back home.
Mashrou’ Leila was banned from Egypt, and homophobic rumors swirled online, including
that the concert had been a 35,000-person orgy — "which, even if you try to entertain the idea, seems really, really difficult to organize," Mr. Sinno said with a bitter laugh.
That same trip, Mr. Sinno found himself torn after the mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Fla., wanting to stand with the gay
and lesbian community even as online trolls called him a "terrorist." "It’s literally disillusioning to have to do away with the romanticized narrative of the U.S. that I had," he said.
" Mr. Sinno said. that My mother really doesn’t want me to go back to Beirut,
Though he grew up speaking mostly English, he studied Arabic to write lyrics, with the goal of "bringing poetry into Arabic pop music." One song, "Shim El Yasmine,"
or "Smell the Jasmine" ("I would have liked to keep you near me, / Introduce you to my parents") has been described as Arab pop’s first gay love song.
" Mr. Sinno said glumly. that In the past two years, we’ve lost our two biggest markets, Jordan and Egypt,