The day after a U.S. man was revealed to have masqueraded online as a gay woman in Syria, another lesbian blogger who published vivid accounts of the protests rocking the Middle Eastern nation has been outed as a straight man.
On Monday, 40-year-old American Master's student Tom MacMaster apologized for posing as Amina Arraf, the Syrian blogger who rose to prominence in recent months for her writing on the blog "Gay girl in Damascus."
Reports that Arraf had been detained by Syrian authorities not only stirred such interest that the deception of that blog came to light, but led to the second hoaxer's confession as well.
According to a report published by The Washington Post, the former editor of lesbian news website Lezgetreal.com had not only corresponded with "Arraf", but was the first to publish her writing online.
As news of MacMaster's hoax grabbed headlines worldwide, U.S. Air Force veteran Bill Graber admitted to the newspaper that he was the person behind the online persona of Lezgetreal.com editor Paula Brooks.
Graber has since told The Associated Press that he initially established the website as a forum to advocate for gay rights, and adopted a female persona to avoid questions of his credibility.
"LezGetReal was not meant to be deceitful or con anyone," he said, explaining his did not believe his arguments against the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy wouldn't be taken seriously if they were thought to be coming from a straight man.
As for his connection to 'Arraf', Graber said theirs was a coincidental relationship first struck when the purportedly Syrian-American blogger posted a comment to Lez Get Real in February.
Graber has since disassociated himself from the website he founded, and says MacMaster's deception would not have been revealed without his efforts.
"He would have got away with it if I hadn't been such a stand-up guy," Graber told AP, explaining that he had helped track "Arraf's" blog posts to computer servers in Edinburgh where MacMaster is enrolled in university.
In a statement posted to Lez Get Real Monday night, the site's managing editor Linda Carbonell related her dismay and vowed to stay the course.
"The past three days have been devastating for all of us on LezGetReal. 'Paula Brooks' has been a part of our lives for three years now," Carbonell wrote, adding that the hoax should not undermine her site's message.
"I hope that over the years, we have educated our readers and that the 'who' of ownership doesn't diminish the stories we have tried to tell. I am sure many of you feel just as betrayed as we do. I am so very sorry."
With files from The Associated Press
