19-YEAR OLD AMINA WHO POSTED TOPLESS PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK THREATENED

Campaigners including Richard Dawkins have called for a day of action to support a young Tunisian woman who appeared to post pictures of herself topless as part of a feminist movement in the country, and was subsequently threatened with death by stoning.

The 19-year-old activist, identified only as Amina, posted on the Femen-Tunisian Facebook page a topless picture of herself with the words “F**k your morals” written across her chest.

Another controversial image followed, of the woman smoking a cigarette, baring her breasts, with the Arabic written across her chest: “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour”.

Tunisian newspaper Kapitalis quoted the Wahabi Salafi preacher Almi Adel, who heads the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, saying: “The young lady should be punished according to sharia, with 80 to 100 lashes, but [because of] the severity of the act she has committed, she deserves be stoned to death.

“Her act could bring about an epidemic. It could be contagious and give ideas to other women. It is therefore necessary to isolate [the incident]. I wish her to be healed.”

If she committed the offense in Tunisia, Amina could be punished by up to two years in prison and a fine of 100 to 1,000 dinars [between £40 and £400], local media said.

JOHNNY GILL OPENS UP ABOUT HIS SEXUALITY

R&B crooner Johnny Gill was featured on last night’s edition of TV One’s acclaimed music series ‘Unsung‘.

One of the subjects that viewers tuned in to hear Gill discuss were the rampant bisexual rumors that have dogged him over the years.

Gill, 46, who dated R&B singer Stacey Lattisaw when he was 15-years-old, seemed conflicted when talking about the persistent gay rumors.

On the one hand he says he has “compassion” for homosexuals, but on the other hand, he says, “it just doesn’t feel good.”

“If I could tell you why I sure would have by now … at this point in time I would have been able to cure that issue … to get rid of that issue,” he explained

“I took (sic) for the life of me never, never understood where it came from, why it lasted as it’s lasted.”

He continued:

“I mean, you gotta remember, before there was Twitter, and Facebook, and all this other stuff, you know there was just the rag magazines. Whatever they say it was like that was the truth. People believe whatever it was,” he said. “But I don’t feel as bad anymore, because when I go on the Internet everybody’s gay … I’ve just always been a very private person.

“Let me make sure we are clear on something. Whether it’s being called gay, accused of being gay, accused of a thief, accused of being anything or somebody’s lying [about] you and saying something about you that’s not true, it just doesn’t feel good … I have such compassion for gay people now more than ever. Just simply because in some odd way I’ve been able to walk in their shoes or to see … how they feel and how people treat them and deal with them because of their sexuality.”

Gill, who always been considered a ladies man around the industry, said the rumors were so troubling to him that he questioned whether his own girlfriend of 5 years doubted his sexual identity.

“I’m going to tell you guys something off the record that I know my girlfriend probably won’t be happy with me for saying this, to talk about this. But I’m going to say it. When we first got together – we’ve been together for five years – there was so much stuff floating around why are you dating this guy, this guy, he’s gay, blah, blah, blah, Eddie Murphy. All this stuff is going on and I’m like, ‘Do you believe it?’ She says, ‘No, I just hear everybody just keeps saying,’ and I said, ‘Let me tell you something. Here’s what we are going to do…’ Woke up, we got the yellow pages, and you know, I mean, that was five years ago … So, we called this guy, he brought out his machine, strapped down to take a lie detector test. I wrote down questions, I made her write down questions … When the guy called back with the results and we both laying there in the bed. Tears came down … I would never want to lay next to someone that might even remotely have any doubt or question of who I am.”

Jada Pinkett-Smith Fires At Media And Cyber Bullies of Teen Stars

Are We Bullying Our Young Artists?

How can we ask for our young stars to have a high level of responsibility if we are not demonstrating that same level of responsibility towards them? This last week, I had to really evaluate the communication in regard to our young artists in the media. I was trying to differentiate cyber-bullying from how we attack and ridicule our young stars through media and social networks. It is as if we have forgotten what it means to be young or even how to behave like good old grown folks.

Do we feel as though we can say and do what we please without demonstrating any responsibility simply because they are famous? Is it okay to continually attack and criticize a famous 19 year old who is simply trying to build a life, exercise his talents while figuring out what manhood and fame is all about as he carries the weight of supporting his family as well as providing the paychecks to others who depend on him to work so they can feed their families as well? Does that render being called a c–t by an adult male photographer as you try to return to your hotel after leaving the the hospital? Or what about our nine year old beautiful Oscar nominee who was referred to as a cunt as well? Or what about being a young woman in her early twenties, exploring the [intricacies] of love and power on the world stage? And should we shame a young woman for displaying a sense of innocence as she navigates through the murky waters of love, heartbreak, and fame?

Are these young people not allowed to be young, make mistakes, grow, and eventually transform a million times before our eyes? Are we asking them to defy the laws of nature because of who they are? Why can’t we congratulate them for the capacity to work through their challenges on a world stage and still deliver products that keep them on top. We all know how hard it is to keep our head above water, even in the privacy of our own homes let alone on the world stage. Imagine yourself, at their age, with the spotlights, challenges and responsibilities.

 Most of us would have fallen by the way side before we could even get to a crashed Ferrari, a controversial romance, several heart breaks, or an Oscar nomination at nine. We wish we could have had the capacity to accomplish half of what they have accomplished along with all these challenges they face. But…maybe that's the problem…we WISH we could have or even…we WISH we could."