NPR: 'Gay Girl In Damascus' Turns Out To Be An American Man

[Heidi]

Over the last several months, Amina Arraf, a blogger who said she was Syrian-American and went by the name Gay Girl In Damascus, captured the world's attention. Her blog caught on just as the protests against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria became widespread and the crackdowns more violent.

On June 6, it all came to a screeching halt when Amina's cousin declared on the blog that Amina had met the fate of many bloggers in authoritarian regimes: Assad's police had taken her into custody. Whether she was alive or dead, no one knew.

As soon as "Free Amina" groups popped up on Facebook and the State Department began looking for her, the story began to seem a lot like fiction. No one had ever talked to Amina. The Guardian published a profile of her June 7 that included a picture they soon found out wasn't Amina but of a Londoner called Jelena Lecic. The biographical details in her blog posts did not check out. Amina Arraf couldn't be found in any public records in Georgia or Virginia and the names of her father and mother also turned up nothing.

Today, the Gay Girl In Damascus blog ended the mystery, posting an apology that revealed Amina was in fact the work of Tom MacMaster, an American from Georgia whose university records show is in a medieval studies graduate program at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Read more

[lame54]

1. We still got it...

In America you can grow up to be anything you want

[Heidi]

5. And sometimes, at the peril of others.

:(

[xchrom]

2. see this thread for some very enlightening info on mr mcmasters

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x178433

a little strange.

[Heidi]

3. Good grief!

Thanks for that link. :hug:

My biggest concern about the damascusgaygirl hoax is that GLBT people are so often persecuted that we don't need shit like this to cast doubt on their credible reports of persecution.

[xchrom]

4. indeed.

:hug:

[hootinholler]

7. A little?

:rofl:

Well I guess you could claim it's expected of the right.

-Hoot

[seabeyond]

6. so without having to read more, or dig for info... the part about amina missing not known dead or

alive is false, too?

[hootinholler]

8. Seeing there never was an Amina

Then you probably can make up whatever dramatic ending you prefer. Perhaps seal team 6 went to her rescue?

-Hoot

[seabeyond]

9. k... didnt know if they got some innocent, but wasnt gonna read more. thanks. nt

[Heidi]

10. The whole thing is a fiction.

There is no Amina, so there is no Amina missing.

[seabeyond]

12. thanks. so bad. i have seen subject line and tht is about it. not gone into story. nt

[pinboy3niner]

11. Gay Girl in Damascus hoaxer: I did it out of vanity - video (20:28)

Edinburgh-based American student Tom MacMaster, 40, talks to the Guardian's Esther Addley via Skype, and explains why he pretended to be a lesbian Syrian blogger with the A Gay Girl in Damascus blog and claimed to have been kidnapped

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/jun/13/syrian-lesbian-blogger-hoaxer-video


See also:

Brian Whitaker, the Guardian's former Middle East editor, examines Tom MacMaster's stated justification for his Gay Girl in Damascus hoax (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/13/syria-crisis-middle-east-unrest#block-1#block-1 ), starting with his statement that he was trying to "illuminate" things "for a western audience":

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/13/syria-crisis-middle-east-unrest#block-21

AND THIS--MacMaster has posted a NEW apology:

http://damascusgaygirl.blogspot.com/2011/06/apology-to-readers_13.html

[Heidi]

13. I wonder if he thinks his vanity is a fair tradeoff for the lives of persecuted gay folks

whose credibility may well be called into question when they report real instances of persecution. This is disgusting.

[xchrom]

14. I think that we can say that he does. Nt

[Heidi]

15. His newest apology makes James Frey look downright admirable.

:puke:

[pinboy3niner]

16. And the lives of others who tried to help his fictional persona

The Guardian continues to follow this in its live update blog, "Syria crisis and Middle East unrest":

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/13/syria-crisis-middle-east-unrest

[Heidi]

17. Yep. But it's okay. He didn't mean to hurt anyone.

:eyes:

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Why on earth did he use the story of her being arrested?

That really got the world's attention. People were bound to start digging at that point.

[notesdev]

19. Surprise surprise

now, about those alleged Libyan rebels...

[Liberal In Texas]

20. Something not true on the internet.

Who would have thunk it?