This one is from a book by Alluquere Rosanne Stone:
"It was on CompuServe, some time early in 1982, that
a New York psychiatrist named Sanford Lewin opened an account."
"Lewin, with his profession in mind, chose the handle 'Doctor.' It does not appear to have dawned on him that the term was gender- neutral until ..." Lewin started a conversation with a woman, and they moved into a private chat room. It was a few minutes before Lewin realized the woman had mistaken him for a woman psychiatrist. However, he did notice the difference between this conversation and any other he had ever had with a woman.
Lewin thought he could help women by posing as a woman online.
"It appears he became deeply intrigued with the idea of interacting with women as a woman, rather than using a female persona as masquerade."
He opened a CompuServe account under the name Julie Graham, and developed a history and persona for Julie, including an explanation why she could not appear in public.
Julie started a women's online discussion group, and by many accounts was quite helpful to people. Julie became popular.
However, the contradictions began to build and be magnified, and Lewin made an attempt to kill off Julie, but backed down at the last minute.
Lewin tried to introduce Sanford Lewin to Julie's online friends and fans, but he didn't match up to Julie.
Lewin finally revealed himself as Julie, first to a few people, and word spread.
Some people were not forgiving.
-- Quoted and paraphrased from Stone, Allucquere Rosanne, The Cross Dressing Psychiatrist, in The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age . (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press); 1995.