Thursday, June 9, 2011

"Gay Girl in Damascus": Is She who She Says She Is?

A digital poster that was distributed across the Web after the Amina was allegedly arrested in Syria.
via Facebook A digital poster that was distributed 
across the Web after the Amina 
was allegedly arrested in Syria.
via NPR

Sandra Bagaria forged an online relationship with the Syrian-American blogger who goes by "Gay Girl In Damascus." She never thought to ask if her name was really Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari or if like a lot of bloggers in countries with authoritarian regimes, it was an alias.

Her blog was so autobiographical, so genuine that it never occurred to her that Amina could be anyone but Amina. But the last few days have left her shellshocked.

First, because on Monday, a person claiming to be Amina's cousin posted a piece on Amina's blog that said she had been detained by the security forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But just as Amina's story got out, her authenticity began to crumble...


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