Image: SIPA USA/PA Images Image: SIPA USA/PA Images ELTON JOHN HAS has joined George Clooney in calling for a boycott of nine Brunei-owned hotels over the sultanate’s new death-penalty laws for gay sex and adultery.
“I commend my friend, #GeorgeClooney, 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,” the Rocket Man singer wrote on Twitter. 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”.They include London’s exclusive Dorchester and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
Homosexuality is already illegal in the sultanate, but it will now become a capital offence. The law only applies to Muslims. Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed as officials worked out the practical details, and in the face of opposition by rights groups.