Jon Stewart on NY Marriage Equality and Fake Lesbian Bloggers: VIDEO

Jon Stewart takes a look at marriage equality in NY, noting that the passage of the bill could ride on the vote of a single legislator, highlighting Andrew Lanza of Staten Island. Stewart also looks at the Syrian lesbian blogger hoax 'Gay Girl in Damascus'.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

The Senator call list is HERE folks. Do it now!

'Gay Girl in Damascus' Hoaxer Tom MacMaster Speaks to the 'Guardian': VIDEO

Tom MacMaster, the American from Georgia now living in Scotland, and the hoaxer behind the fake 'Gay Girl in Damascus' blog, speaks to the Guardian about the reasons he deceived people.

MacMaster compares it to writing a novel, and said it allowed him to tell the story of the Syrian uprising without someone asking him, "Why do you hate America?" He says he chose a lesbian identity because it was "a challenge" and says he was expecting to get only 20 hits.

Adds MacMaster: "I also have to say that I Like the light, and my own vanity is, if you want to compliment me, tell me you like my writing, and that's something that certainly, you know, the fact that I had people say 'you're an incredible writer'...that's how to make me happy."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Previously...
Hoax: True Identity of Lesbian Syrian Blogger Revealed [tr]

Hoax: True Identity Of Lesbian Syrian Blogger Revealed

Skeptics had recently become suspicious of the “A Gay Girl in Damascus” blog and the existence of its author, allegedly a 35-year-old lesbian living in Syria. Today it was revealed that the whole thing is indeed a big hoax.

The site is written a by 40-year-old man from Georgia currently living in Scotland. The man, Tom MacMaster, published a new blog post today titled "Apology to readers":

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.

I only hope that people pay as much attention to the people of the Middle East and their struggles in thıs year of revolutions. The events there are beıng shaped by the people living them on a daily basis. I have only tried to illuminate them for a western audience.

This experience has sadly only confirmed my feelings regarding the often superficial coverage of the Middle East and the pervasiveness of new forms of liberal Orientalism.

However, I have been deeply touched by the reactions of readers.

The Washington Post had questioned MacMaster about the identity of the Syrian girl (the pseudonym he came up with was Amina Arraf) as early as four days ago. The Post reports:

In telephone interviews and e-mail exchanges with The Post over the past three days, MacMaster initially denied any connection to Amina. He insisted he had never heard of her before the news of the arrest and that he had been unaware of the blog. “Look, if I was the genius who had pulled this off, I would say, ‘Yeah,’ and write a book.”

MacMaster responded to a question from "Electronic Intifada" saying that he will soon further explain his actions with members of the media: "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."

The blog Lez Get Real had posted entries created by MacMaster to their site over the last few months, the whole time believing they had indeed been written by a lesbian named Amina Arraf. Lez Get Real's staff issued an angry response directed at MacMaster for intentionally deceiving them:

"And you have the unmitigated arrogance to think you can issue an apology to YOUR readers and not to us. You have put us through a week of hell – calling in favors to rescue someone who doesn’t exist and losing us the support of people who were working with us for American rights. You have damaged your own cause, with people all over the world fighting over which fanatics you represent. What you did was stupid, irresponsible and unworthy of the people you claim to care about."

BBC Interviews Girl Whose Photo Was Used in Abducted Lesbian Syrian Blogger Story: Video

As the mystery behind the new story of the allegedly abducted lesbian Syrian blogger "Gay Girl in Damascus" deepens, the BBC speaks with Jelena Lecic of London. Lecic's face has been splashed across the news because it was her photo that was used as the face of Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, the allegedly abducted blogger.

Lecic discusses the use of her photo, and how the story has changed her life.

Mahmoud Hamad, a Syrian human rights activist, tells the BBC that he can't say that Abdallah actually exists, discusses why a political cyber-activist might choose a fake photo to illustrate a blog.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Previously...
Skeptics Question Story of Kidnapped Syrian Lesbian Blogger [tr]
]Lesbian Blogger Forcibly Seized in Damascus [tr]

Skeptics Question Story of Kidnapped Syrian Lesbian Blogger

On Monday I posted a story about Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, an out lesbian blogger from Damascus, Syria, who was allegedly seized by three men with government connections. The story has been picked up by all kinds of mainstream outlets, and now the story, as well as Araf's existence are being questioned.

The NYT writes, as a follow-up to its story about the abduction:

Although it remains possible that the blog’s author was indeed detained, and has been writing a factual, not fictional, account of recent events in Syria, readers should be aware that the one person who has identified herself — to The Times, the BBC and Al Jazeera — as a personal friend of the blogger, Sandra Bagaria, has now clarified that she has never actually met the author of the Gay Girl in Damascus blog. Ms. Bagaria told The Lede that she had also never conversed with Ms. Arraf face to face via Skype, but had conducted an online relationship with her since January entirely through Internet communications in writing, including more than 500 e-mails.

Other details have emerged as well. WebProNews adds:

 A particular photo (see right), supposedly of Amina, was posted to the newly erected Facebook page and the media, both internet based and traditional, used the photo to identify Amina. It appears, however, that the picture that was circulating may not actually be Amina.

According to the WSJ, a London woman is saying that the photos supposedly of Amina Abdallah are actually in fact photos of her. The woman, Jelena Lecic, provided proof in the form of more photos that appeared to match the ones being passed off as Amina. Apparently Lecic’s ex-husband spotted the photos being circulated as Amina and recognized his ex-wife.

The whole thing could be a hoax.

Lesbian Blogger Forcibly Seized in Damascus

Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, an out lesbian blogger from Damascus, Syria, was seized by three men earlier today, her cousin wrote on her blog, 'A Gay Girl in Damascus', earlier today:

Amina told the friend that she would go ahead and they were separated.Amina had, apparently, identified the person she was to meet. However, while her companion was still close by, Amina was seized by three men in their early 20’s. According to the witness (who does not want her identity known), the men were armed. Amina hit one of them and told the friend to go find her father.

One of the men then put his hand over Amina’s mouth and they hustled her into a red Dacia Logan with a window sticker of Basel Assad. The witness did not get the tag number. She promptly went and found Amina’s father.

The men are assumed to be members of one of the security services or the Baath Party militia. Amina’s present location is unknown and it is unclear if she is in a jail or being held elsewhere in Damascus.

Later, it was updated:

I have been on the telephone with both her parents and all that we can say right now is that she is missing. Her father is desperately trying to find out where she is and who has taken her.

Unfortunately, there are at least 18 different police formations in Syria as well as multiple different party militias and gangs. We do not know who took her so we do not know who to ask to get her back. It is possible that they are forcibly deporting her.

From other family members who have been imprisoned there, we believe that she is likely to be released fairly soon. If they wanted to kill her, they would have done so.

That is what we are all praying for.

This was the first I knew of Abdallah and her blog. The Guardian profiled her a few weeks ago.

The Atlantic adds: 

A Facebook page has quickly sprouted up for Abdallah, a dual citizen who was born in Virginia to an American mother and a Syrian father and, at six months, moved to Syria, where she has relatives in the government and the Muslim Brotherhood (the photo above comes from Facebook, though we can't confirm its authenticity).