Facebook post in reply to Trina’s question “Are ‘good intentions’ an excuse?” in the case of the male blogger who confessed to being the real voice behind “A Gay Girl in Damascus.”
Let’s ask how he could have done it differently. How about in his own voice, as an ally of strong conviction, collaborating with organizations working to further the mission of queer women in the Middle East? Or transparently, as the author of a fictitious character based on the real life stories of people he has gone so far as to interview but cloak with their consent?
One person has already commented that in a nation that already claims movement efforts as the work of outsider Western infidels, do we really need someone proving them right?? Not only has he lost the trust of a community worldwide, he’s betrayed those queer women there in Syria who wanted someone among them that they could see as an example.
When they wrote whispering “me too,” did he confess to them his lie?
Fuck you, Tom. Indeed.
