Bogus lesbians 'causing emotional damage'

The boom in women pretending to be lesbians to attract attention is leaving a trail of emotional destruction, according to a social commentator.

Several high-profile relationships involving "real lesbians" and women more often linked to men — such as MTV's Ruby Rose and Jess Origliasso, and Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan — have reportedly encouraged a wave of "fauxmosexuals" on the real life party circuit.

PHOTOS: Invasion of the faux lesbians

Gay social commentator Tim Duggan has described the "lesbian trend" as a fad which is actually doing "more damage than good".

"Experimentation is healthy — what it leads to can sometimes be a great thing, but you need to wonder what effect [fake lesbians] are having on women," said Mr Duggan, co-founder of gay and lesbian site SameSame.

"Women who pretend to be lesbians do it to titillate men.

"The current trend of gay acceptance is a Trojan horse: on the surface it's 'wow, isn’t it great, it's being talked about', but it's not real acceptance — it's a titillating, easy-on-the-eyes acceptance."

Online gay forums are abuzz with talk of the "bogus lesbian" craze, with some questioning whether the trend is putting real homosexuals at risk.

"Where do these fauxmosexual fads leave queer teens once they're packed away in the cupboard (with other fads)?," user timbo84 wrote.

"The statistic of 30 percent of teen suicides in the US being gay or lesbian teens is very distressing.

"Here's hoping pop culture moves on to focus on people like Ellen and Ian McKellen and not those who are just 'out' to make a buck!"

Mr Duggan said the impact of "celesbians" — stars who use alternative lifestyles as marketing ploys — is something which can no longer be ignored.

"When straight celebrities like Katy Perry come out and sing about kissing girls and liking it, you have to wonder what impact that has on the playground," he said.

Perry rocketed to the top of the singles chart, both locally and overseas, after her song "I Kissed A Girl" became a worldwide smash.

MTV VJ Ruby Rose was seen locking lips with Veronicas twin Jess Origliasso at a Sydney nightclub in March.

Rose, 22, later stressed the two were "just friends" during a tell-all interview where she revealed she came out when was just 12 years old.

Earlier this month, Rose was spotted kissing Australia's Next Top Model contestant Samantha Downie at a Rolling Stone magazine party.