Sour Lips
I was still living as an Arab Muslim in America. I struggled with coming out to friends and family, and so I decided to come back to Syria. It hasn’t been easy. But we are here, just as we are everywhere.
DAMASCUS 18:00 – Amina was walking near Fares Al-Khouri Street when three armed men seized her. According to an eyewitness, Amina was bustled into ared Dacia Logan with a bumper sticker of Basel Assad. The men are assumed to be members of the Ba’ath Partymilitia or one of the security services. Amina’s present location is still unknown. Following the story of Amina Arraf, the blogger known as ‘A Gay Girl In Damascus’, and the events fomented by the media’s coverage of her kidnapping, Sour Lips fuses fantasy and non-fiction to create its own speculative narrative.
Omar El-Khairy is a writer for the stage and screen. He is a graduate of both the Royal Court and Soho Young Writers programs and a fellow of the Old Vic New Voices T.S. Eliot UK/US exchange. He holds a PhD in Political Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.