Edinburgh Man Outed as "Gay Girl In Damascus"

Submitted by edg on Mon, 13 Jun '11 10.00am

Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Especially, if the author - writing via an anonymous Blogger account - purports to be A Gay Girl in Damascus.

Described as "an out Syrian lesbian's thoughts on life, the universe and so on ..." the blog with its commentry, poems, and videos was supposedly compiled by a Syrian-American teacher Amina Araf. However, it turns out that the real author was Tom McMaster, a male, married, graduate student at Edinburgh University.

News outlets reported details of the blogger's life and experiences. "She is perhaps an unlikely hero of revolt in a conservative country. Female, gay and half-American," reported Katherine Marsh (a pseudonym for a journalist who lives in Damascus) in The Guardian.

The blogger was outed and last night issued this apology.

Said McMaster: "I never expected this level of attention. While the narrative voıce may have been fictional, the facts on thıs blog are true and not mısleading as to the situation on the ground. I do not believe that I have harmed anyone -- I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about."