Starting Wednesday, stoning people to death for engaging in same-sex relationships officially became the law in Brunei.
Officially called Negara Brunei Darussalam — or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace — the third richest country in the world has joined a list of six other nations that also impose the death penalty for same-sex relationships or acts.
According to the latest State-Sponsored Homophobia Report, a publication released by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) in March, 2019, three countries are in Asia: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen; and three in Africa: Nigeria, Sudan and Somalia.
In six other nations, the death penalty for same-sex behavior remains a possibility: Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. (Iraq had been removed from the list following the elimination of the Islamic State, but the ILGA continues to receive reports of State prosecution using laws on public indecency, prostitution or others.)
The move has received worldwide condemnation by activists, artists and politicians.
Last Wednesday, responding to the inclusion of the “vicious” punishments in Brunei’s Penal Code, Amnesty International urged the nation to reconsider, and celebrities such as Elton John and Ellen have joined the protest. Actor George Clooney called for a boycott of nine luxury hotels, which are owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Two of them, The Beverly Hills hotel, and Hotel Bel-Air, have been synonymous with Hollywood glamour for decades.
With such celebrity endorsements the move brought considerable attention to the issue, but despite recent advances in LGBTQ rights worldwide — such as the legalization of same-sex marriage in 26 countries — abominable practice is more prevalent that some would expect.
According to ILGA, in only 65% of UN Member States consensual same-sex sexual acts are not criminalized.
“As of March 2019, 70 States continue to criminalize same-sex consensual activity. In 44 of these States the law is applied to people regardless of their gender,” Lucas Ramón Mendos, a lawyer and researcher specialized in international human rights law and sexual and gender diversity issues, said in a statement.
Besides the 12 nations where the death penalty is likely to happen, other countries can punish “offenders” by fines, corporal punishment and prison, when maximum penalties can vary between 10 years to a life imprisonment.
Mendos, who authored of the ILGA report, added that while “landmark advances have taken place in the last two years [in countries that appealed these laws, such as]India, Trinidad and Tobago, and Angola,” “global progress comes with setbacks: in 2017, Chad criminalized consensual same-sex sexual acts, a worrying example of legal regression.”
The report came out before Brunei had announced its new laws.
The oil-rich absolute monarchy of Brunei already punished gay sex with up to ten years in prison, even before the harsh punishment, which is rooted in Islamic sharia laws, was implemented. The new measures also criminalize sex between women, who can receive a penalty of 40 strokes of the cane and up to ten years in jail.
Although signs of change have been felt in South Asia — in September, 2018, the Supreme Court of India effectively decriminalized homosexuality in the world’s most populous democracy — the practice remains common, as countries such as Myanmar, Indonesia, and Singapore continue to treat same-sex behavior as a crime.
In Indonesia a “pornography law” is used to target LGBTQ people. In May 2017, 141 gay men were arrested for alleged pornographic activities.
In Myanmar, a gay activist was arrested in November, 2018 under the country’s sodomy laws.
And in Singapore, the government has recently reaffirmed its position not to repeal Section 377A of the penal code, a colonial-era law that criminalizes gay sex.
But activists keep on fighting.
Forty-nine year-old Bert Wee, a former research analyst who has worked for four Singapore government agencies, told the Daily News that the situation has gotten better in the past 15 years. Even though male gay sex is illegal, the law is rarely enforced.
“Any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years,” the penal code states, but gay bars, clubs, and gay saunas, can operate openly….but “public displays of affection are frowned upon and its very, very rare to see two gay guys hold hands in public, much less kiss,” he said.
Singapore even has its own Pride parade called Pink Dot, “except that it’s held in a big park on a weekend. [But] it’s a public event which people, if they so choose, can attend openly. It attracts thousands of people each time,” he said.
The event’s success might lead to its downfall, however.
“While Pink Dot remains very well attended, the government has tried to clamp down on it the last couple of years and disallowed foreign sponsors and also foreigners from attending, probably because they feared it was getting bigger and bigger and attended by more and more people.”
In the United States, same-sex sexual activity became legal in 2003, when the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws in Texas in a 6-3 decision and, by extension, invalidated similar laws in 13 other states.
