It's mind boggling that in this day and age, it is still necessary to defend a person's right to love who they want.
It is even more shocking that in some parts of the world, a person can be put to death because of who they love.
Earlier this week, Brunei, a country on the island of Borneo, quietly ushered in a brutal new anti-LGBTQ law that makes homosexual sex an offense that's punishable by death. Those found guilty of adultery will face the same consequences.
As of April 3, any individuals found guilty of either offense may be stoned to death, according to the country's new penal code and the punishment will be "witnessed by a group of Muslims."
Let that sink in. Death. By stoning. In the year 2019.
The condemnation of this measure from around the world has been swift. In addition to a long list of celebrities speaking out against the new law, ranging from actor George Clooney to comedian Ellen DeGeneres, and musician Elton John, countless companies have since stepped forward to express their protest.
Among the companies that are taking meaningful actions to show their opposition to this barbaric law are TV Choice magazine, London-based newspaper the Financial Times; Deutsche Bank; and STA Travel, to name a few.
Those of us in the travel industry can also show our support for what, in this day and age, should be basic human rights by boycotting the nine hotels owned by Brunei's wealth fund, the Brunei Investment Agency, a government-owned fund that invests on behalf of the small oil-rich sultanate.
Properties that are part of the fund include Hotel Bel-Air and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles; Principe di Savoia in Milan and Le Meurice in Paris. They also include London's Dorchester; 45 Park Lane, London; Coworth Park, UK; Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris; and Hotel Eden, Rome.
Why is this boycott helpful? As Clooney wrote in an opinion piece for the news website Deadline:
"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."
All of the hotels owned by Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah have deactivated their social media accounts because they don't want to hear or have to deal with the outrage surrounding these medieval new Islamic criminal laws.
But that hasn't stopped the backlash.
TV Choice magazine announced on Twitter that its annual TV Choice Awards would no longer take place at London's Dorchester Hotel.
The Financial Times has also said it is canceling a planned event at the Dorchester Hotel and would not use any other Dorchester Collection hotels.
Deutsche Bank announced in a statement that its employees would no longer use Dorchester hotels on company business. It has removed the Dorchester Collection hotel group from its list of suppliers in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, inter and queer (LGBTIQ) rights.
"The new laws introduced by Brunei breach the most basic human rights, and we believe it is our duty as a firm to take action against them," the investment's chief risk officer Stuart Lewis said in a statement. "We are proud to support LGBTIQ rights around the world, and as part of this we regularly review our business partnerships to ensure that they are aligned with this principle."
As for the travel industry, STA Travel, which serves students and younger travelers, announced on Twitter that it will cease selling flights on Brunei's national carrier, Royal Brunei Airlines.
"We're proud of our open and diverse culture and we expect our partners to demonstrate the same," STA Travel told CNN in a statement. "We've taken this stance to add our voice to the calls on Brunei to reverse this change in the law and in support of LGBTQI people everywhere."
Any customers who may have already purchased flights on Royal Brunei Airlines will be refunded their money if they no longer wish to fly with them, STA Travel said.
But all of this outrage appears to have little impact on the opinion of those in Brunei. In fact, if you do a quick search on Twitter, you'll find people in Brunei who are shocked by the world's response, telling those of us around the planet who find it horrifying that an individual would face death by stoning, to stay out of the country's affairs.
All of which makes it even more important to speak up and continue to show that this sort of human rights violation will not be tolerated by the international community or by the travel industry.
Death for who you love is simply not acceptable, no matter what your religious beliefs are and no matter what country we're talking about. As a human race, we need to do better than this. And as it has done on so many other pressing matters, the travel industry can help lead the way.
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