Two Dads are Better than None

I read a few of what I thought was this young man's books and found out I was totally deceived. The books were written under the guise that this young man was a transgender "lot lizard" raised by a physically violent southern baptist grandfather, through truck stop child prostitution, homosexuality, drug addiction and tons more heave shit that no one could imiagine. The book hurt to read and I found out now I was deceived because the book was written by a middle-age Brookynn housewife. After I read the "semi auto biographical" story, I feel in love with this brilliant young 19 year old writer. He did not exist...

here is the story..

Young? HIV-positive? Transgender? LeRoy, it turns out, is none of those things. In a revelation that has rocked the literary world, he doesn't even exist. The painfully shy 20-something writer who rose out of truck-stop child prostitution and heroin addiction in West Virginia to become a best-selling novelist and voice of the downtrodden is a persona created and perpetuated, for an astounding 11 years, by one Laura Albert, a 40-year-old middle-class white woman from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Aided by her mother, her husband and her sister-in-law, among others, Albert charmed celebrities, famous writers and publishers into believing that LeRoy had produced remarkable works of harrowing fiction, informed by a woeful past of abuse, prostitution, drug addiction and, ultimately, gender transition. Literary heavyweights like Dave Eggers, Mary Gaitskill and Dennis Cooper eagerly promoted LeRoy's writings, and celebrities from Madonna to Courtney Love to Carrie Fisher offered enthusiastic support and encouragement.

According to a New York Magazine expose last October, Albert and her husband, Geoffrey Knoop, both failed rock musicians, began the ruse to gain access to literary and celebrity circles. Over the years, the hoax gradually morphed into a virtual cottage industry of deception. Readers worldwide bought LeRoy's three critically acclaimed books (the second of which is tellingly titled, "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things,") to pore over what they had been told were "semiautobiographical" stories.

Profits from LeRoy's books and magazine articles were paid to Albert's sister and mother via a Nevada company called Underdogs, Inc. Through the JT LeRoy Web site, devoted fans can buy not just the three books, but also CDs for a rock band, Thistle, for which LeRoy supposedly writes lyrics; buttons; T-shirts; the raccoon bones LeRoy allegedly wears as pendants; and wiffle balls signed by LeRoy.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, LeRoy was an associate producer for "Elephant," an award-winning 2003 film by famed director Gus Van Sant, and, more recently, was hired by HBO to write an episode of the series "Deadwood."

But not everyone is willing to simply write off the LeRoy story as a harmless hoax that hoodwinked America's literati.

"This charade is unfortunate and cruel for gay and transgender writers who fight over many years to get into print," said Charles Flowers, director of Lambda Literary Foundation, an organization that promotes LGBT writing. "It's particularly cruel for people who read the work hoping to find an image of themselves or to have their experience reflected back."

Flowers believes the LeRoy debacle will make it harder for real transgender and gay writers who have survived difficult circumstances to get their work published.

"It's heinous," said Mitcho Thompson, a facilitator of drop-in support groups for homeless transgender youth in San Francisco. "She [Albert] is preying on this already vulnerable population, making a lot of money while hiding behind this fake image."

Thompson and other transgender activists take particular offense to LeRoy's citing a transgender identity as reason not to appear in public, which allowed Albert to continue the hoax even as readers clamored to see more of LeRoy. "As a transgendered human subject to attack," LeRoy wrote to a New York Times reporter, "I use stand-ins to protect my identity."

Michelle Tea, a San Francisco writer and literary curator who helps shepherd young LGBT writers, had a six-year working relationship with LeRoy and helped publish his work. "This whole thing is so gross," Tea said, still reeling from what she called a "great diabolical hoax."

Tea said she spent many hours on the phone and had lengthy e-mail exchanges with LeRoy, encouraging what she thought was a greatly troubled young man trying to get his voice out into the world. "It's such a slap to the artists who really are toiling away to create meaning from the hardships of their lives," Tea said. "It turns the redemptive quality of a lot of writing into a total farce."

But the farce of JT LeRoy has not yet run its course. Despite mounting pressure on Albert to admit her role in the ruse, she has not yet done so. "I don't need this in my life right now," she said before hanging up on a New York Times reporter who called to inquire about the story.

And according to Tea, writers around the country are just beginning to grapple with a decade of professional and emotional deception.

Thompson, the support group facilitator, is calling for Albert to make reparations, a demand that is likely to gather steam in the coming weeks. "She should fund a drop-in shelter for homeless queer youth," he said. "She's been using this population to bolster her own fame and make money, and has not returned anything back. And that is disgusting."