Hollywood starts have launched a boycott of nine Brunei-owned hotels after the tiny Islamic nation on the island of Borneo announced that they would be enforcing the death penalty for gay sex and adultery.
While the new laws were announced five years ago with the nation’s adoption of Sharia law, the death penalty for homsexual sex and adultery will begin on April 3, according to CNN.
Spearheaded by actor George Clooney, the boycott has been joined by the likes of Sharon Stone, Elton John, Jamie Lee Curtis, George Takei and others, who refuse to patronize the Brunei-owned establishments:
Here are the hotels to boycott:
The Dorchester, London
45 Park Lane, London
Coworth Park, UK
The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills
Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
Le Meurice, Paris
Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris
Hotel Eden, Rome
Hotel Principe di Savoia, MiElton xx
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) March 30, 2019
Please boycott the #BeverlyHillsHotel and the #HotelBelAir as this law has been restarted!!!!! This is the owner. Thank you. S
Brunei Bans Buggery; Gays To Be Stoned To Death Under Sharia Law | Zero Hedge https://t.co/g3Bu17QQtE— Sharon Stone (@sharonstone) March 29, 2019
I stand with George Clooney, a good man doing the right thing, fighting an unjust and barbaric law. George Clooney: Boycott Sultan Of Brunei’s Hotels Laws Against LGBTQs | Deadline https://t.co/fjR2hv1sTb
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) March 28, 2019
“I commend my friend, George Clooney, for taking a stand against the anti-gay discrimination and bigotry taking place in the nation of Brunei – a place where gay people are brutalised, or worse – by boycotting the sultan’s hotels,” tweeted Elton John on Saturday.
The 72-year-old, a veteran gay rights campaigner, said his “heart went out” to staff at the hotels, but that “we must send a message, however we can, that such treatment is unacceptable”. –The Guardian
Last week Clooney called for the boycot, saying “Every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels, we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.”
Brunei has been ruled for 51 years by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah as an absolute monarchy. While homosexuality is already illegal there, it will now become a capital offense.
Will they also boycott Saudi properties?
There are now 11 countries in the world where homosexual acts are punishable by death, including Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Kingom Hotel Investments, owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed, owns nearly 50% of the Four Seasons hotel chain, while Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment Management owns approximately the same amount.
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As we noted last week, here’s a map of mostly Islamic republics where homosexual acts are illegal and/or punishable by death.
And via the Washington Post:
Places where homosexual acts can be punished by death
Afghanistan
The Afghan Penal Code does not refer to homosexual acts, but Article 130 of the Constitution allows recourse to be made to Sharia law, which prohibits same-sex sexual activity in general. Afghanistan’s Sharia law criminalizes same-sex sexual acts with a maximum of the death penalty. No known cases of death sentences have been meted out since the end of Taliban rule.
Iran
In accordance with sharia law, homosexual intercourse between men can be punished by death, and men can be flogged for lesser acts such as kissing. Women may be flogged.
Nigeria
Federal law classifies homosexual behavior as a felony punishable by imprisonment, but several states have adopted sharia law and imposed a death penalty for men. A law signed in early January makes it illegal for gay people countrywide to hold a meeting or form clubs.
Qatar
Sharia law in Qatar applies only to Muslims, who can be put to death for extramarital sex, regardless of sexual orientation.
Saudi Arabia
Under the country’s interpretation of sharia law, a married man engaging in sodomy or any non-Muslim who commits sodomy with a Muslim can be stoned to death. All sex outside of marriage is illegal.
Somalia
The penal code stipulates prison, but in some southern regions, Islamic courts have imposed Sharia law and the death penalty.
Sudan
Three-time offenders under the sodomy law can be put to death; first and second convictions result in flogging and imprisonment. Southern parts of the country have adopted more lenient laws.
Yemen
According to 1994 penal code, married men can be sentenced to death by stoning for homosexual intercourse. Unmarried men face whipping or one year in prison. Women face up to seven years in prison.
Mauritania
Muslim men engaging in homosexual sex can be stoned to death, according to a 1984 law, though none have been executed so far. Women face prison.
United Arab Emirates
Lawyers in the country and other experts disagree on whether federal law prescribes the death penalty for consensual homosexual sex or only for rape. In a recent Amnesty International report, the organization said it was not aware of any death sentences for homosexual acts. All sexual acts outside of marriage are banned.
And now we can add Brunei.
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There are 65 countries where homosexual acts are illegal
Noteworthy laws:
Pakistan
Death penalty laws exist but are unlikely to be implemented, according to the 2016 IGLA report.
Chad
A 2014 law makes same-sex relations a crime punishable by 15 to 20 years in prison.
India
A ban on same-sex relationships was tossed by the legal system in 2009 but reinstated in 2013. The supreme court said the government, not the courts, would have to change the law.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2FMvzJZ Tyler Durden