By: The Guardian
April 1, 2019
Elton John has joined George Clooney in calling for a boycott of nine Brunei-owned luxury hotels – including the Dorchester, London and the Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles – over the sultanate’s new anti-LGBT laws.
The law is horrific – Brunei is due to impose death by stoning as a punishment for gay sex, as well as adultery, from this week. As Clooney said, every time people use the 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”.
Whether or not to stay at the Dorchester is not a dilemma many of us face, but the problem of whether to avoid companies with questionable practices is a growing one. Amazon has been shunned by some shoppers over its tax avoidance, while Waterstones is now in the press for not paying staff a living wage.