Popular British musician Elton John has been banned from performing a private concert in Egypt, DPA reported on Monday.
According to the report, the 63-year-old openly homosexual performer was prohibited from playing in the Arab country because of anti-religious sentiments that he had purportedly expressed.
The news agency quoted Mounir al-Wasimi, the head of Egypt’s Musician
Union, as saying that his country could not allow “a homosexual who
wants to ban religions, claimed that the prophet Issa (Jesus) was gay
and calls for Middle Eastern countries to allow gays to have sexual
freedom” to perform there.
John drew controversy earlier this year when he intimated in an
interview with the American
Parade magazine that
there was no tolerance for homosexuals in Arab countries. "I don't know
what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -
you're as good as dead," he told the magazine.
Also in the February interview, the performer stated that Jesus had been
a “super-intelligent gay man,” a conclusion he reached after reading
about the Christian savior’s compassionate and understanding nature.