Gay rights bubbling up as issue in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks

As negotiations on a global trade pact among 12 Pacific Rim nations heat up, a number of opponents are raising alarm bells over human rights. Known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), critics argue that the failure to address member nation Brunei’s barbaric laws against homosexuality is yet another reason to halt, if not downright derail,…

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Sultan of Brunei cancels annual ‘Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize’

In the wake of intense criticism of  Brunei’s planned implementation of new laws that could lead to women and LGBT Bruneians being stoned to death, the Dorchester made public this morning its decision to cancel its annual fashion competition and gala, known as the Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize. The decision by the hotel company was made…

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HRC condemns Dorchester’s attempts to deflect criticism of Sultan of Brunei (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON –– Today the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) condemned the Dorchester Collection’s  attempts to use its own employees to divert attention away from actions taken against the Sultan of Brunei’s hotels.  This ploy comes despite assurances from the company that it has guaranteed the positions, income, and benefits of all of its employees for as long as…

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HRC urges action to stop the expansion of the Sultan of Brunei’s hotel chain to New York

WASHINGTON – Today the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called on lawmakers, activists and allies of the LGBT community to speak out against the planned expansion to New York of a hotel chain owned by the anti-LGBT Sultan of Brunei.  The Sultan recently announced that he will soon introduce flogging, amputation, and stoning as possible punishments…

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HRC calls on organizations to avoid hotels owned by anti-LGBT Sultan of Brunei

WASHINGTON — Following Brunei’s decision this week to advance a series of penal code reforms that will include stoning as a possible punishment for relations between its LGBT citizens, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) sent letters today to the leadership of several organizations that currently plan to host events at American hotels owned by the…

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Brunei’s Shariah-based Penal Code set to take effect, gays risk stoning, execution

In what the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) are calling ‘a step backward’ for human rights, the Sultan of Brunei has announced that a series of laws that were formulated in 2013 are set to be enacted in April, 2014. The laws, which criminalize everything from adultery to same-sex relations, include punishments ranging from public…

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Gay rights supporters ‘break up’ with Beverly Hills Hotel over owner’s homophobia (VIDEO)

LOS ANGELES – Gay rights activists pledged a boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel today, citing the hotel owner’s state-sponsored homophobia. The hotel is owned by the nation of Brunei, a country in South East Asia where male homosexuality is a crime. A video made by the group calls on supporters to “break up” with…

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