The move appeared to have the support of its Muslim majority population, but attracted heavy criticism abroad.
Brunei brings in stoning to death for gay sex, despite outcry
Brunei's move will make it the second in the South-east Asia region to have these Islamic penalties, after Aceh province in Indonesia. The Brunei High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, when queried on the issue yesterday, said it was "unable to give any information on this issue". At least six other countries apply these strict laws, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan.
Conservative Muslims view such laws as important in stopping what they see as major social problems.
The mufti of Malaysia's Perak state, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, when contacted, said that in Saudi Arabia, people could carry thousands of dollars in cash in plastic bags without fear. It Islamic law serves as a deterrent.
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This is not the first time Brunei is attracting global headlines for its drive towards conservative Islam. Italy is the largest Western European country where same-sex marriage is not legal; its parliament, however, approved civil unions for same-sex couples in Support for same-sex marriage is weaker in Eastern Europe.
International Norms, Democracy, and LGBT Rights
A Pew Research Center poll found that support for legal recognition of same-sex marriage is 16 percent in Belarus and just 9 percent in Ukraine. Support in Poland and Hungary, which both have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, is 32 percent and 27 percent, respectively. At least ten other countries in Central and Eastern Europe have such prohibitions. Hungary and the Czech Republic, however, do recognize same-sex partnerships; in , a Budapest court ruled that same-sex marriages performed abroad must be recognized as partnerships.
Estonia also allows civil unions, though popular support for same-sex marriage in the Baltic states is low. In Chechnya, a semiautonomous republic within Russia, dozens of men suspected of being gay have been detained, tortured, and even killed since in a crackdown on the LGBT community; a new wave of detentions and killings was reported in late Despite growing support for same-sex marriage in many European countries, divisions remain.
George Clooney calls for hotels boycott over Brunei's LGBT laws
While in Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage through popular referendum, lawmakers in Northern Ireland have defeated bills to legalize same-sex marriage five times. In Canada became the first country in the Western Hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriage. It was followed by Argentina in , Brazil and Uruguay in , Mexico in , and Colombia in Support for same-sex marriage varies across the region. In Central America, support is much lower: Central American countries do not recognize same-sex couples, though some have limited antidiscrimination protections.
Support for same-sex marriage also remains low in the Caribbean, at just 16 percent in Jamaica and 23 percent in the Dominican Republic.
Chile and Ecuador allow same-sex civil unions. The governments of Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Paraguay have enacted constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. Cuba, where homosexuality was once punished by internment in forced-labor camps , has changed markedly in recent years; the National Assembly passed an antidiscrimination law in Same-sex unions, however, are still not recognized. New Zealand and Australia are the only Pacific Rim countries in which same-sex marriage is legal.
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A district in Tokyo also began recognizing same-sex unions in ; ILGA found a year later that only 33 percent of Japanese supported same-sex marriage. Lawmakers in Thailand and Vietnam have considered bills to legalize same-sex marriage or civil partnerships. Just 31 percent of people in China, 30 percent in Malaysia, and 14 percent in Indonesia say same-sex marriage should be legal, according to ILGA.
Same-sex relations between men are banned in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar , and Singapore , and in Brunei they are punishable by death. Rights groups have reported increased threats and violence against the LGBT community in Indonesia since , including discriminatory comments by several public officials. In late India lifted a colonial-era ban on gay sex. The new punishments, which also include amputation of hands and feet for thieves, will make Brunei the first country in east or southeast Asia to have a sharia penal code at the national level.
Several mostly Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia also adhere to sharia law.
Gay Sex Foreign [Explicit]
The penal code was formally published in but the government said the laws would be enacted over a period of several years, with the most controversial delayed after international outcry. In a nation where homosexuality was already outlawed, the delays over the law had created a false sense of security, said Ryan Silverio, an LGBT rights activist from the human rights network SOGIE Caucus, who visited Brunei several years ago. Among LGBT people in Brunei there was now a pervasive sense of fear and a desire to leave the country, the Guardian has learned.
Several have left already, seeking asylum in countries such as Canada.