In the confusion of exams, the end of school, and work going on in the house, I have not been able to add the Coda to the last post. Anyone following the Syrian situation will have probably seen that the Gay Girl in Damascus was actually the creation of a straight man in Edinburgh. He has apologised for misleading the world, but said that he did it with the Best of Intentions. Well, as my Sainted Dad used to say, the Road to Hell is paved with those, and let's only hope that he did no harm to anyone, though many 'on the ground' disagree...
To add a bizarre twist to the story, though, one of 'Amina's long-term contacts in the lesbian blogosphere was also a straight man! Both had been running their Internet personalities for some time, and both had taken in vast numbers of people...
'Amina' impressed me: I liked her take on politics, admired her courage, and enjoyed her writing. Like many other people, I feel betrayed by the hoax, and disturbed by the distraction that it has created in a real, often life-and-death situation.
Additionally, I have to wonder at the voyeurism (is that the word I want?) that drives straight men to create on-line lesbian personnae to the depth of detail and emotion that these two men did.
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