Los Angeles officials call for boycott of Brunei-owned Hotels

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[size=34]They're taking LGBTQ rights back to the Stone Age': Los Angeles officials call for boycott of Brunei-owned hotels frequented by Hollywood stars after country passes law calling for death by stoning for adultery and gay sex[/size]

• Calls for a boycott of Los Angeles-area hotels owned by Brunei are growing
  
  
• Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air have been frequented by Hollywood stars
  
  
• These hotels are also owned by the royal family which rules Brunei 
  
  
• Brunei plans to implement new Islamic penal code based on Sharia Law
  
  
• Law stipulates the death penalty for rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery and insulting or defaming the Prophet Mohammed 
  
  
• George Clooney and Elton John have already called for boycott of Brunei-owned hotels 
  
  

By AFP and REUTERS
PUBLISHED: 19:12 EDT, 2 April 2019 | UPDATED: 05:57 EDT, 3 April 2019

     

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The sultan of Brunei is (seen above) has passed laws based on Islamic doctrine that have sparked outrage
Celebrities and LGBTQ are calling for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels in LA over the country's draconian laws around gay sex and relationships.  
The call to boycott the fabled Beverly Hills Hotel, once the playground of Hollywood celebrities, and Hotel Bel-Air came after the sultanate announced plans to implement the death penalty for gay sex and adultery.
George Clooney and Elton John were among the first celebrities to join the call for a boycott of the hotels and other properties owned by the sultanate in Britain, France and Italy. 

In a column for Deadline on Thursday,  he wrote: 'They're nice hotels. The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties. 
'But let's be clear, 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.'
Officials are also demanding a boycott of the businesses over Brunei's treatment of gay people. 
'As a citywide elected official, I represent a diverse community of Angelenos, and I call on everyone to boycott the hotels owned by Brunei's royal family,' LA Controller Ron Galperin said in a statement.
'I will not set foot in these establishments so long as they are owned and controlled by a regime that is willing to kill LGBTQ people.
'While I feel bad for the many hard-working employees of these local hotels, no one should support or attend any events there while lives are on the line.'
Los Angeles Council member Paul Koretz said people should shun both hotels even 'if that means marring their reputation and fabled history.'
'The city of Los Angeles and the United States and world should place severe sanctions on Brunei for taking LGBTQ rights back to the Stone Age,' said Karina Samala, chair of the Transgender Advisory Council.
'We are all human beings with a right to live in freedom.'
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There are growing calls in the United States for a boycott of hotels owned by the royal family which rules Brunei. One of the hotels is the Beverly Hills Hotel (seen in the above stock image)
The new Islamic penal code, or Sharia law, which is to come into force in the tiny southeast Asian sultanate on Wednesday, has already drawn fierce criticism from rights groups and the United Nations.


Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed, in the face of opposition by rights groups, and as officials worked out the practical details.
The new law stipulates the death penalty for a number of offences, including rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery and insulting or defaming the Prophet Mohammed.
It also introduces public flogging as punishment for abortion, as well as amputation for theft, and criminalizes exposing Muslim children to the beliefs and practices of any religion besides Islam.
Since the new penal code was first announced in 2013, the who's who of Hollywood have shunned the celebrated Beverly Hills Hotel painted in pink and green and once a favorite of celebrities like Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor and The Beatles.
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British pop legend Elton John and American actor George Clooney have also called for a boycott of the hotels and other properties owned by the sultanate in Britain, France and Italy. The Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles, which is owned by the sultan of Brunei, is seen above
Local news reports say the hotel has lost millions of dollars in business as a result of the long-running unofficial boycott.
The United States on Tuesday criticized Brunei's decision to implement the controversial Islamic laws and urged it to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
'Brunei's decision to implement Phases Two and Three of the Sharia Penal Code and associated penalties runs counter to its international human rights obligations, including with respect to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,' State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.
Brunei is a Muslim-majority former British protectorate with a population of around 400,000.
'We continue to encourage Brunei to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 2015, and to sign, ratify, and implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,' Palladino said.