The 'Gay Girl from Damacus' Blog False

[karadinart]

Tom McMaster, a 40-year-old American made up an Internet blogger named "Amina," who wrote moving and passionate dispatches under the title "A Gay Girl in Damascus." People followed "her;" people believed "her" reportage from Syrias. Now the author tries to apologize ... sort of.

WRONG - YOU DON'T BRING ATTENTION TO A HORRIBLE PROBLEM BY CO-OPTING SOMEONE ELSE's STORY AND MESSAGE.

*additional* It gets creepier, as 'Amina' he had an online romantic relationship a woman who thought he was a) Syrian b) a woman and c) a lesbian.

To create his persona, he used the real photo of a woman from London via Facebook.

Instead of shutting down the blog, he had his persona be kidnapped by security forces, and real people took risks trying to find her. Such an ASSHOLE.

Despite his claims he was trying to do some good, there are now reports he was trying to shop a memoir under the Amina name. http://www.minalhajratwala.com/2011/06/a-thousand-sighs-memoir-of-a-hoax/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/13/gay-girl-damascus-tom-macmaster

Comments

[koshien.livejournal.com]

"Amina" sure did fabulous work by effectively painting big crosshairs over the heroic hardworking people who genuinely live in fear of reprisal due to their sexuality/political stance.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Yep, not to mention if the establishement wants to say the uprisings are influenced from outside the country.

Not sure which upsets me more, that he's not Syrian not gay, or not a woman.

[koshien.livejournal.com]

Yes this sucks big time, I am a member of Amnesty International and some of the things I read about going on in Syria before any of this shit hit the fan is atrocious, let alone without foreign agitation adding more fuel to the fire.

I think the thing that annoys me most is that he actually published the blog in the first place and ran with the idea in the hope that he would get some kind of awesome positive feedback from it.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Not only that, he was trying to shop a memoir.

[earthspirits.livejournal.com]

This disgusts and angers me. Personally I think he did it to cash in with his so-called "memoir".

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Yup, just follow the money.

[sphinxofthenile.livejournal.com]

How disgusting. He would deserve to be dumped in Syria. Just to get a hang of it.

[goodbyemyfancy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I read this story and got really intensely angry about this. J heard me ranting about this a lot since it broke in the news.