LZ Granderson is a journalist and political analyst. He was a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and the Hechinger Institute at Columbia University, and is a co-host of ESPN's "SportsNation" and ESPN LA 710's "Mornings With Keyshawn, LZ and Travis." Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @lzgranderson. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) We know the "who." It's the reason the story gathered national attention in the first place. We mostly know the "when," "where" and "how." They were the reasons for immediate doubts.

But we may not have much interest in the "why," because there cannot possibly be a justifiable reason to fabricate a story about being assaulted with a noose by alleged racists.

At this point, the only question of importance is "what?" As in what will the LGBTQ community do with Jussie Smollett if his account of being attacked by bigots in January is not true.

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I continue to hold a sliver of hope that the dots that continue to feel so far apart will eventually connect and the picture before us will show he was telling the truth all along. I hold hope that those faint whispers that began almost as quickly as the story made its way across the networks will be silenced, that Smollett will be vindicated. And the people who took to social media to demand justice for him will not be left to look like fools.

At a time in which stories of discrimination are met with a disturbing amount of cynicism, the last thing anyone who is a champion of equality wants to see is an openly gay black man give birth to a "fake news" poster child. But, unfortunately, if what police are saying is true, that is what appears to have happened.

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