Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila performed to a sold-out crowd in Egypt on Sept. 22 ... but it hasn't all been positive news since.
First, Egypt's Musicians syndicate said it will ban the band - whose lead singer Hamed Sinno is openly gay - from performing in the country again.
A day later, seven people were arrested for raising rainbow flags - which authorities referred to as the "flag of homosexuals" - during the concert.
The individuals were detained under charges of "promoting sexual deviancy" and "inciting immorality."
Nabil Sadek, Egypt's Public Prosecutor, ordered the State Security Prosecution to investigate the incident, according to Reuters.
However, it has not been yet confirmed whether the charges will be carried out and brought to court.
The crackdown on homosexuals in the country dates back to 2001
In 2001, police raided the Queen Boat - a floating disco on the Nile - which saw the arrest of 52 gay Egyptian men.
The men were forced to undergo anal examinations to see if they had engaged in sexual intercourse.
The incident drew widespread criticism from human rights groups at the time.
While homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, according to The Guardian, police routinely arrest individuals using decades-old prostitution and debauchery laws.
According to media reports from earlier this year, Egyptian police have even been targeting gay men through hookup apps like Grindr.
It seems as though the country is now targeting LGBT allies as well.
People are standing in solidarity with those arrested
And emphasizing Mashrou' Leila's role as LGBT allies
Some are at a loss for words
Waving a "flag is not a crime"
"It is utterly ridiculous to arrest anyone for waving a flag"
"This is absurd"
People refuse to be silenced
Mashrou' Leila as allies of LGBT Arabs
In 2010, Hamed Sinno raised the LGBT flag during the band's Byblos concert, publicly taking a stand with respect to homosexuality in the Arab world.
Sinno fearlessly made his own sexuality crystal clear, making the band one of the biggest LGBT allies for Arabs struggling with their own sexuality.
"I think for me and for rest of the band, as allies, there's a big question about visibility being one entry point to actual change," Sinno once told StepFeed.
"I know it's a controversial thing to say, not controversial in the sense where it's polemical, but controversial in that people don't necessarily agree -- that visibility should be the first step to changing things.
Personally, I am a proponent of that. I think the whole band - as allies - have been quite vocal about that as well, being on stage with a queer member, themselves being straight, and being stigmatized because of that," he added.
Mashrou' Leila's music tackles subjects that are considered taboo in the Arab world and aims to break the Arab image out of its orientalist mold.
The band's song Shim El Yasmine is just one example. It has become a "gay anthem within the Arab LGBT community," as The HuffPost once put it.