For six years, she had provided hope for millions suffering from persecution due to their sexual orientation. Amina Arraf, a half-American, half-Syrian lesbian woman best known for her blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus," captivated an international audience as she told her tale of being an out-of-the-closet homosexual in the Middle East.
However, in the hours after Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old American man from Georgia, admitted to being the writer behind “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” Syrian bloggers, the LGBT community, and those who had considered themselves personal friends of “A Gay Girl” expressed their hurt and anger at MacMaster at being deceived for so long.
In a public apology on the “Gay Girl” blog, MacMaster writes: "I am really truly sorry and I feel awful about this. Words alone do not suffice to express how badly I feel about all this. I betrayed the trust of a great many people, the friendship that was honestly and openly offered to me, and played with the emotions of others unfairly." The second apology he posted on the blog which named specific people he had hurt was not well-received, either. Italian newspaper La Stampa wrote of the apology: “The puppeteer of the Syrian blogger Amina apologizes, but there is no excuse.”
Amina’s girlfriend, who conducted an online relationship with a person she thought was a Syrian blogger and activist for months, and had even made plans with to meet Amina in Italy, tweeted upon hearing the news:
MacMaster's lie began to unravel when the author posted that Amina had been kidnapped by authorities. When the public and the media pleaded for help on the woman's behalf, it was revealed that no woman named Amina Arraf had been taken into custody nor was there record of her ever having existed. NPR's Andy Carvin attempted to find anyone who had met the girl in person and was unable to do so. Finally, after more media sources continued to try and get to the bottom of the story, it was revealed that the "Gay Girl" was actually MacMaster, a 40-year-old American student at Edinburgh University.
Paula Brooks, the District-based editor of the blog Lez Get Real, (a site providing "a gay girls view of the world") and the person who first encouraged her to set up “A Damascus Gay Girl,” says that the news is “breaking my heart.”
Admitting he did it out of vanity, MacMaster has not only incurred the wrath of Amina’s followers, he also has to face the fury of his wife, who discovered the truth along with the rest of the world. In an interview with The Guardian, MacMaster said he had Amina kidnapped so he could phase out the character, and he created the story out of vanity. He did make it clear that he believes homosexuals like his Amina character face prejudices every day in the Middle East.
However, this does not seem to be enough for those taken in by MacMaster’s charade. An apology for hosting Amina’s posts on the Lez Get Real site read: “Were we used by this person? Yes. Did we believe her? Yes. Did we care what happened to her? Damn yes. And that’s what hurts so much.”
MacMaster’s interview with The Guardian can be seen below. In the meanwhile, we are left to ponder: is it okay to deceive to raise awareness of an issue, or were MacMaster’s actions completely deplorable?
Are we too trusting in the blogosphere? Share your thoughts, drop us a comment!
