Why We Are Boycotting Brunei
The tiny monarchy island of Brunei recently passed a new criminal law that includes stoning for gay sex, adultery, and even the amputation of limbs for theft.
The small island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, known as Brunei, just passed a new criminal law, whose penal code is based directly from Islamic law in the Quran.
Not only is this law outdated and simply barbaric, but someone hasn't been put to death in Brunei since 1957. How do you go from not using the death penalty to willingly taking the lives of people for things that aren't even acknowledged as actual crimes?
Who is the man responsible? Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, 72, who has been the ruler of the small island since 1967.
With a population of just 430,000 people, the island makes an insane amount of wealth through its oil industry - making their sultan one of the wealthiest people on the planet.
Since 2013, the sultan had been planning on imposing an incredibly restrictive form of Islam on his country, who is majority Muslim.
According to The Guardian, The Sultan has billions of pounds of property wealth in the UK, shares in a leading tech fund and gets assistance from City auditing firms.
Among these hotels are the Dorchester in London and the Beverley Hills Hotel in Los Angeles - which celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and George Clooney have called a boycott for.
"Raise your voices now. Spread the word. Rise up," DeGeneres said.
Ellen, amongst other celebrities, is demanding the boycott of nine hotels. Two in the United States, three in the United Kingdom, two in France and two in England.
Alongside Ellen stands Elton John, who has refused to stay in any Brunei-owned hotels since before the laws were passed; saying that his boycott began in 2014 at the first mention of such medieval tactics.
Think about it, in the United States, gay couples didn't feel accepted until 2015. But in some places, there isn't only a feeling of judgment but a threat to your life that can only be described as inhumane.
The law demands whipping or even death by stoning if you take part in extramarital or anal sex and other things. You could even have one of your labs amputated for theft - something that can sometimes be dealt with a slap on the wrist in the United States. Abortion is criminalized alongside lesbian sex which is punished by 40 whipping lashes.
Amongst this list of criminalized acts are things that people should have a certain level of privacy and comfort to do in their own homes with no one needing to know or necessarily care. Some things are simply right we all take advantage and usually don't even notice are subtle luxuries in our lives.
So, make sure to stay informed and updated while we #BoycottBrunei until these laws are overturned or the Sultan himself steps down. It's only just.
