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Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari was a fictional character or hoax persona created and maintained by American Tom MacMaster.〔 The identity was presented as a Syrian-American blogger, identifying herself as a lesbian on her weblog ''A Gay Girl In Damascus'' and blogging in support of increased civil and political freedom for Syrians. During the 2011 Syrian uprising, a posting on the blog purportedly by "Amina's" cousin claimed that Amina was abducted on 6 June 2011. This sparked a strong backlash from the LGBT community and was covered widely in mainstream media. In the wake of the reports, questions arose regarding the possibility that Arraf al Omari was an elaborate hoax. On 7 June 2011, author/blogger Liz Henry, Andy Carvin〔 〕 (a journalist with National Public Radio in Washington, D.C.) and others raised doubts about the identity of the blogger. The photos purported to be of her were proven to be a Croatian woman residing in Britain with no relation to Syria, the blog, or the ongoing protests in the country. On June 12, Ali Abunimah and Benjamin Doherty of the website Electronic Intifada conducted an investigation that pointed to a strong possibility that the identity of "Amina" was MacMaster, an American living in Edinburgh. Hours later, Tom MacMaster posted on "Amina's" blog and took responsibility for the blog and the false reports of her capture. ==Creation and spread== MacMaster created the character Amina Abdallah as a fictional persona or alias; MacMaster said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) that he could not recall when he created the character. NPR stated that it found posts from Amina at the Yahoo! group "alternate-history" dating to February 2006. MacMaster said that he created the Amina character so he could more easily participate in discussions about the Middle East. MacMaster believed that if he used his real name, people would have presumed that he was too closely tied to the United States, but as Amina he would have more credibility. As Amina, MacMaster posted on various listservs and websites. MacMaster fleshed out the character's background, and he said that he began writing a novel based on the character. Eventually, he created various profiles for Amina at various social networking sites. Originally he used the character to discuss politics of the Middle East and science fiction. In the northern hemisphere fall of 2010, MacMaster moved Amina to Syria. MacMaster said that he was going to stop using the persona by then. Eyder Peralta of NPR said, "But the Arab Spring called her back."〔Peralta, Eyder. "(Man Behind Syrian Blogger Hoax: Something 'Innocent ... Got Out Of Hand' )." ''National Public Radio''. June 14, 2011. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.〕 In February 2011 MacMaster posted as Amina on the website Lez Get Real, which was operated by Bill Graber, a straight man pretending to be a lesbian woman named Paula Brooks. MacMaster and Graber corresponded, and under the Amina character MacMaster flirted with the Paula character. Graber said that the interaction "was a major sock-puppet hoax crash into a major sock-puppet hoax."〔Flock, Elizabeth; Melissa Bell. "(‘Paula Brooks,’ editor of ‘Lez Get Real,’ also a man )." ''Washington Post''. June 13, 2011. Retrieved on June 13, 2011.〕 As Amina, MacMaster wrote pieces for ''Lez Get Real''.〔Broverman, Neal. "(''Lez Get Real Editor'' Is Straight Man )." ''Advocate''. June 13, 2011. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.〕 MacMaster began the blog ''A Gay Girl in Damascus'' under the Amina name.〔 The first entry appeared online on February 19, 2011.〔"('A Gay Girl in Damascus': how the hoax unfolded )." ''The Daily Telegraph''. 15 June 2011. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.〕 The publication, known for its commentary on politics, gender, sexuality, and Syrian culture, became, in the words of Nidaa Hassan of ''The Guardian'', "increasingly popular after capturing the imagination of the Syrian opposition as the protest movement struggled in the face of the government crackdown."〔 The blog's tagline was "An out Syrian lesbian's thoughts on life, the universe and so on ..." The blog gained popularity after an April 26 post titled "My Father the Hero"〔 about two security agents who came to her home to detain her and were kept away by her father. She and he were described as going into hiding soon after, changing locations in Damascus.〔 In May 2011, Katherine Marsh of ''The Guardian'', then deceived by the hoax, described the blog as "brutally honest, poking at subjects long considered taboo in Arab culture".〔 The character of "Amina" claimed, "Blogging is, for me, a way of being fearless, I believe that if I can be 'out' in so many ways, others can take my example and join the movement." According to American bisexual activist and author Minal Hajratwala, in May 2011, MacMaster (as Amina) wrote to Hajratwala, asking for advice regarding a book Amina was writing. She said that MacMaster sent a copy of an autobiography of the character and asked Hajratwala to send the text to an agent. Hajratwala said that she, unaware of MacMaster's true identity, did not send the script to an agent because she believed the material was "rambling and in need of a lot of work."〔Mackey, Robert. "(While Posing as a Syrian Lesbian, Male Blogger Tried to Get a Book Deal )", ''The New York Times'', 22 June 2011. Retrieved on July 6, 2011.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「A Gay Girl In Damascus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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