Members of Jordan's parliament and the kingdom's interior minister are attempting to cancel Mashrou' Leila's June 27 concert in Amman, according to media reports.
A member of the Lebanese indie band confirmed to StepFeed that Jordanian officials have called for a ban on the concert, but no formal decision has been made. Reports say that tens of ministers have signed a petition against the event.
Ministers opposing the Mashrou' Leila concert have been involved in a heated debate with the country's tourism minister as he had already granted approval for the event, according to reports.
Although the concert has not been banned, many fans are already freaking out on social media. This would be the second year in a row that the band would face a ban in the kingdom.
Fans want to know if the ban will actually happen ... again
Will they really do it again??
Can't Mashrou' Leila just play their music in peace?
And some were already expecting this reaction
Last April, the band was blocked from performing just days before a scheduled performance in Amman.
According to a statement released by Mashrou' Leila at the time, the decision came as a direct result of the intervention of “certain authorities” who pressured Jordanian officials to cancel the concert.
The Jordanian interior ministry officials and religious figures stated that Mashrou' Leila's music contradicts "Islam, Christianity and the values of Jordanian society," the BBC reported.
The ban was eventually lifted the night before the concert was supposed to take place, which made it impossible for the band to follow through with it.
With its frontman Hamed Sinno open about his queerness, Mashrou' Leila is known for championing sexual freedom. In 2010, Sinno raised the LGBTIQ+ flag during the band's concert in Lebanon, publicly taking a stand for the Arab world's queer community.