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New evidence about Amina, the "Gay Girl in Damascus" hoax

Resolution

A new post on the Gay Girl in Damascus blog includes a confession from Tom MacMaster. Andy Carvin offers independent confirmation of the confession with statements from Tom MacMaster and Britta Froelicher.

MacMaster has also separately confirmed he is behind the hoax in response to an email from The Electronic Intifada asking for confirmation. MacMaster wrote:
Yes. We will be doing a first interview with a journalist of our choice in 12-24 hours. After that, we may consider other media.
Tom

Original post

Ali Abunimah and Benjamin Doherty write:
We have gathered compelling new evidence regarding the “Gay Girl in Damascus” blogger hoax.

Those responsible for this hoax have caused a great deal of concern and anguish by posting information alleging that “Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari” the supposed “Gay Girl” blogger had been kidnapped from the streets of Damascus, possibly by Syrian authorities, and was likely in grave danger.

A measure of the concern that this story has caused is the formation of a Facebook group calling to “Free Amina Arraf” with more than 15,000 members, as well as numerous action alerts and stories in international media.

MORE



Just what the fuck???? WHY THE HELL DID HE DECIDE THAT MAKING A COUNTRY'S REVOLUTION ALL ABOUT HIM WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO????? WHAT JUST WHAT????? RAGE!!!!!


via: [personal profile] delux_vivens


via [personal profile] keeva Syrian LGBT bloogers respond to the FUCKERY that has been perpretrated by this... boil on the backside of humanity: From Damascus with Love: Blogging in a Totalitarian State

If anyone else sees responses, link them in here please?

No really, is there NOTHING that white people will hold sacred? Will refrain from appropriating? Nothing at all?

Date: 2011-06-13 06:28 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] keeva
So while Amina could be real in a transgender sense, the need to play out a different nationality, ethnicity and the racial politics identity that comes along with that seems PURE PRIVILEGE.

Yeah, that's part of why I say he's doing it wrong.

Co-opting someone else's identity for your own benefit, that's wrong.

I'm sorry I angered you. My comment -- as a trans person -- was to put some context on the reported statements he made in email to Liz Henry about gender identity.

Date: 2011-06-13 06:30 am (UTC)
willow: Raspberry on black background. Text: Original Unfiltered Willow (Willow:Unfiltered)
From: [personal profile] willow
Thank you.

And I hope I didn't anger or upset you. I don't want to deny anyone their gender identity. I just am incensed that it could be read or might be said and used as smoke screen for what IS appropriative and cruel, wrong, hurtful and privileged.

Date: 2011-06-13 06:33 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] keeva
Yeah, I am not sure about the gender identity issue itself, but even so, this was so out of bounds that "out of bounds" doesn't even start to describe it.

If he does have some sort of gender identity issue going on -- if he's trans, for example -- that in no way exonerates him from any of this. If he wants to make a nice Scottish-American identity, say, "Amanda Lynn McClure," go for it. But a Syrian woman in Damascus? No, no, no, a thousand times no.

... and forming and maintaining romantic relationships under false pretenses, as he did with Sandra Bagaria, is just utterly repulsive and wholly indefensible.

Date: 2011-06-13 06:42 am (UTC)
willow: Raspberry on black background. Text: Original Unfiltered Willow (Willow:Unfiltered)
From: [personal profile] willow
And that French ex-pat living in London, who now has her face associated with the headline 'FRAUD'? Heaven forbid she'd randomly decided to visit Syria. Again, indefensible.

Date: 2011-06-13 06:44 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] keeva
Yeah, his mistreatment of Jelena Lecic was abominable. She's in the UK, and he's living there now -- I wonder how badly the UK's laws would allow her to crush him?

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