Actor George Clooney and
singer-songwriter Elton John are calling for a boycott of nine hotels
owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
Starting April 3, gay sex and adultery
will be punishable by death in Brunei. Hassanal Bolkiah in 2017
celebrated his 50th year as Sultan of Brunei, a Southeast
Asia nation. He is considered one of the richest persons in the
world.
“On this particular April 3rd,
the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of
its citizens that are proved to be gay,” Clooney wrote in an op-ed.
“Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world
backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone.”
“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,” he
said.
On Saturday, John, who is openly gay
and raising two sons with his husband David Furnish, joined Clooney
in calling for a boycott of Sultan Hassanal's hotels.
“I believe that love is love and
being able to love as we choose is a basic human right. Wherever we
go, my husband David and I deserve to be treated with dignity and
respect – as do each and every one of the millions of LGBTQ+ people
around the world,” John wrote in a statement.
“Discrimination on the basis of
sexuality is plain wrong and has no place in any society. That’s
why I commend my friend, George Clooney, for taking a stand and
calling out the anti-gay discrimination and bigotry now being
enshrined in law in the nation of Brunei, a place where gay people
are brutalized or worse. As George has said, the Sultan of Brunei
owns many luxury hotels around the world – hotels which David and I
have found it impossible to visit since the Sultan’s plan to push
for shar’ia law in Brunei became public. Our hearts go out to the
good, hardworking employees of these properties, many of whom we know
to be gay.”
“We recognise that sovereign
countries will make decisions for their own citizens. But we feel we
must send a message, however we can, that such treatment is
unacceptable. We must never underestimate the power of our voices –
and our actions – to spark the change we need to see,” he
concluded.
Two of Sultan Hassanal's hotels are
located in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Other locations include
France, Italy and the United Kingdom.