Brunei-Owned Hotels Have Deleted Their Social Media Accounts

The change comes after calls for a boycott.

Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

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Mikelle Street

April 04 2019 9:47 AM EST

May 26 2023 2:25 PM EST

MikelleStreet

In the wake of Brunei implementing laws that would institute punishments like lashings and stoning to death for queer sexual acts, hotels owned by the Sultan of the country have deleted their social media accounts

Over the past few days, celebrities have come out strongly against Brunei's new penal code that went into effect yesterday. The new set of laws could see those convicted of being a lesbian given 100 lashes and those convicted of sodomy could be stoned to death. Last Thursday, George Clooney slammed the legislation in an op-ed and called for an immediate boycott.

"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," he wrote in Deadline. Others like Bobby Berk, Sir Elton John, and Ellen Degeneres publicly signed on to the boycott with Degeneres sharing a graphic listing the Dorchester Collection's hotels. On Monday, Clooney published a follow up, responding to a few criticisms of the boycott.

"It is also true that the Sultan won't be terribly hurt by a boycott, but the scores of companies he funnels money through will distance themselves," he wrote. "That's what a boycott does."