Protestors outside The Dorchester hotel in London oppose death penalty for gay sex introduced by Brunei. (Ella Braidwood) Hundreds gathered outside Brunei-owned The Dorchester hotel in London on Saturday afternoon (April 6) to protest against the country imposing the death penalty for gay sex. Campaigners surrounded the five-star complex in Mayfair, at one point breaching barriers put up outside the hotel and storming onto the building’s steps. The demonstration was organised after LGBT+ activists and celebrities—including George Clooney, Billie Jean King, and Ellen DeGeneres—advocated for people to boycott nine hotels owned by Brunei in protest against the draconian legislation. As well as The Dorchester, these hotels include The Beverley Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, Le Meurice in Paris, and Hotel Eden in Rome. Brunei implemented the strict Islamic legal system of sharia law on Wednesday (April 3), making gay sex between men punishable with death by stoning and lesbian sex carrying a sentence of 40 whips of the cane or a 10 year jail sentence. Campaigners storm onto the steps of Brunei-owned The Dorchester to protest against gay sex death penalty The Brunei Investment Agency—a government-owned corporation—possesses the hotels, which also include Plaza Athénée (Paris), Hotel Meurice (Paris), Principe di Savoia (Milan), Hotel Bel-Air (Los Angeles), Coworth Park (Ascot), and 45 Park Lane (London). Activists chanted pro-LGBT+ phrases, including: “What do you want? LGBT rights! When do you want them? Now!,” and: “Homophobia has got to go.” The demonstration was organised by The Peter Tatchell Foundation and Benali Hadamache, co-chair of The Green Party’s LGBT+ arm, LGBTIQA+ Greens. “We are urging countries worldwide to suspend diplomatic, economic and military relations with Brunei and to threaten boycotts, sanctions and disinvestments if these extremist Sharia punishments are not revoked,” said Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner and director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation. “The UK royal family must stop hosting the Sultan and cut all ties with his despotic regime. Brunei should be suspended from the Commonwealth. “These draconian laws violate the Commonwealth Charter, which Brunei has agreed to uphold.” The introduction of the strict Islamic legal system of sharia law in Brunei, a former British protected state, will also impose the death penalty for adultery, amputation for those found guilty of theft, and flogging for abortion. Activists set off smoke bombs and lay down rainbow-painted stones on the steps of The Dorchester Protestors set off smoke bombs and laid rainbow-painted stones on the steps of the hotel to represent LGBT+ people in Brunei that will be executed under the legislation. “We are urging countries worldwide to suspend diplomatic, economic and military relations with Brunei.” —Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner “The move to kill gay people by stoning is barbaric and has no place in the 21st century,” said Hamdache. “It’s time to demonstrate that London will not tolerate the Sultan’s brutal homophobia. “We encourage all businesses and individuals to boycott any dealings with his chain of hotels. The Sultan should become an international pariah.” “Just as importantly, we call on the UK government to take action against the Kingdom. “It’s time, via the Commonwealth and all available channels, to pressure Brunei to rethink or else to withdraw our economic and political involvement with the country.”<doc-sep>‘More than a thousand’ people stormed the Dorchester Hotel in London today in protest against anti-LGBT laws in Brunei. Carrying placards and rainbow flags, campaigners banged on the windows of the building as they chanted ‘shame on you’ and ‘gay rights, human rights’. The hotel is owned by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who recently implemented a law meaning gay men will be stoned to death. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Swarms of campaigners arrived at the Dorchester Hotel in London today (Picture: Adam Miller) Protesters are calling for guests to boycott the luxury chain (Picture: PA) A flag was draped from the balcony (Picture: @ashkotak) The crowd banged on the windows of the hotel (Picture: Wheatley/ WENN) Earlier today, activists were thrown out of high tea at the hotel, in Park Lane, after using a loudspeaker to tell guests to boycott the facilities. Since then, campaigners have blocked the entrance to the luxury inn, carrying signs that read: ‘Money spent at the Dorchester lines the pocket of man who believes gays should be stoned to death’. exclusive Instagrammer accused in £4,000,000 forex 'scam' finally breaks silence Protester Graham, 46, told Metro.co.uk he wanted to ‘achieve basic human rights’ by rallying outside the hotel. ‘This is about archaic laws being passed that bring down basic freedoms in our modern day society,’ he said. ‘We can’t say it’s not affecting us in Britain because it’s affecting the world. If one country doesn’t stand up to this kind of homophobia and ruthless ruling, then where does it stop? They have been telling guests to ditch the hotel until the law is changed (Picture: Wheatley/ WENN) They chanted ‘shame on you’ and ‘gay rights, human rights’ (Picture: PA) Campaigners carried placards and rainbow flags (Picture: PA) ‘We have to stop it in its first tracks, the first hurdle, before the monster grows and takes over completely.’ He continued: ‘You might question what you can do as a small fry, but add all of those small fries together and it’s a bloody big McDonald’s. ‘We have to do what we can and think: “Okay, let’s hit the University of Oxford where the Sultan of Brunei has his honorary degrees”. Capitol riot probe commission blocked from being created by Republicans ‘Let’s say to them: “Do you feel comfortable to them giving this homophobic bigot a degree?” They probably don’t. If enough people tell them we can start to create change.’ Bella, 22, and Lola, 17, joined the crowd to make it clear that ‘England isn’t supporting the Sultan’. ‘We can’t just stand by as other people’s rights are taken away,’ they said. ‘It’s necessary that we act in solidarity with those in other countries where things like this happen. It’s just as much our responsibility or anyone who goes to the Dorchester Hotel’s as it is those abroad.’ The Dorchester Collection has nine hotels (Picture: Wheatley/WENN) The Sultan of Brunei has implemented a law meaning gay men will be stoned to death (Picture: PA) Protesters are also lobbying the Univerisity of Oxford to remove the Sultan’s honorary degree (Picture: Adam Miller) STA travel say they will no longer sell flights for Royal Brunei Airlines (Picture: Wheatley/ WENN) George Clooney and Elton John are among celebrities also calling for a boycott of the Dorchester Collection’s nine hotels, which include three in the UK and the Beverly Hills Hotel in LA. Deutsche Bank and estate agent Knight Frank have now banned their staff from staying there. STA travel say they will no longer sell flights for the national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines while Virgin have ended a discounted arrangement with the company. Amazon mocked for AmaZen mental health 'cry closets' set up on factory floor A spokesperson for the Dorchester Collection said that ‘inclusion, diversity and equality’ were the ‘foundation’ of the company. ‘We understand people’s anger and frustration but this is a political and religious issue that we don’t believe should be played out in our hotels and amongst our 3,630 employees,’ they said. ‘We’re deeply saddened by what’s happening right now and the impact it is having on our employees, guests, partners and suppliers in particular. ‘Our values are far removed from the politics of ownership.’ Protesters are also calling for the Commonwealth to expel the nation from the group (Picture: Wheatley/ WENN) Earlier today campaigners were kicked out of high tea (Picture: Adam Miller) The laws have caused international revulsion (Picture: PA) There have also been calls for the Commonwealth to expel Brunei from the group, although it is expected they will opt to apply diplomatic pressure instead. The University of Oxford is now said to be reconsidering the decision to award an honorary degree to the Sultan in 1993. Harry takes new swipe at royals saying families feel 'shame' over mental health In a statement, the university said it shared the ‘international revulsion’ of the laws and that the decision to confer the honorary degree of civil law would be reexamined through an ‘established process’. They added: ‘We also believe in due process. Just as nobody has a right to confer an honorary degree, nobody has a right summarily to rescind it. ‘The decision to confer this degree 26 years ago was recommended by a committee and approved by council and by congregation at the time. ‘We will reconsider this decision through our established process in light of the information now available, as other British universities are doing.’ Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.<doc-sep>
Anti-discrimination demonstrators staged a protest outside the Brunei-owned luxury Dorchester Hotel in London yesterday. The protest is part of ongoing protests around the world over the tiny South East Asian Sultanate of Brunei’s adoption of harsh new Sharia laws. The new laws include death by stoning for gay sex and amputation of hands for theft. The Dorchester Hotel is majority owned by the tiny nation situated on Borneo Island. The London protests were headed up by human rights activist Peter Tatchell, where up to 100 people gathered outside the famous Park Lane hotel, many armed with rainbow flags demanding a revocation of the new draconian laws. A tough penal code in the tiny country, ruled as a monarchy by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, came into force last Wednesday after several years slowly ramping up Shariah law in the Sultanate. It has sparked a storm of global criticism from politicians, celebrities and rights groups, with actor George Clooney, pop star Elton John and TV host Ellen Degeneres, among others, calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted around the world. “If the Sultan will not listen to reason and compassion we believe the British government should sever all diplomatic, economic and military ties with the regime,” said Tatchell. Brunei is part of the wider British Commonwealth but the historic bloc of British colonies has so far resisted calls for a stronger response over the penal code, including expelling Brunei from the Commonwealth. Brunei is also part of the ten ASEAN-country trading bloc. ASEAN leadership, at this stage, has been silent on the implantation of Sharia Law. Meanwhile, the University of Oxford says it will reconsider its decision to award an honorary degree to the Sultan. A statement says the University shares the “international revulsion” of the laws and that the decision to confer the honorary degree of civil law by diploma to Bolkiah in 1993 would be reconsidered. Deutsche Bank has removed the Brunei-owned Dorchester Collection group from the list of hotels its employees use and Virgin Airlines Australia said its staff would no longer travel on the Brunei state-weened airline and would consider its current code-share agreement with the airline. Want more from the Thaiger family? 📱 Download our app on Android or iOS for instant updates on your mobile 📧 Subscribe to our daily email newsletter 👍 Like/Follow us on Facebook 🔔 Subscribe to or Join our YouTube channel for daily video updates