Stephen Fry boycotts Brunei-owned hotel over ‘stone the gays’ law
Stephen Fry has said he will cancel his reservations with a Brunei-owned hotel chain, after the country passed a ‘stone the gays’ law.
The Dorchester Collection, owned by the Sultan of Brunei, is facing boycotts after the Sultan passed a change to the penal code, calling for gays to be stoned to death.
Last week an LGBT philanthropist conference opted to cancel its booking with the group’s luxury Beverly Hills Hotel , and yesterday designers Peter Som and Brian Atwood said they would move Fashion Week events away from the chain.
Joining the boycott, Fry said that he has cancelled his booking with the chain’s five-star Coworth Park Hotel, located in Ascot.
He tweeted today: “Cancelled in nick of time: discovered [Coworth Park] that I was booked into is part of the ‘Dorchester Collection’.”
Cancelled in nick of time: discovered @CoworthParkUK that I was booked into is part of the “Dorchester Collection”
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) April 26, 2014
In response to the boycott, the chain told WWD yesterday: “We are sensitive to the fact that any such potential withdrawal of business directly impacts our employees, who represent the full diversity of society.
“We continue to abide by the laws of the countries we operate in and do not tolerate any form of discrimination of any kind.
“We are aware that many variations of Sharia law are practiced in many countries throughout the world and these countries have diverse business interests including fashion, hospitality and travel groups, media, entertainment, banking and many other sectors.”
Before the passage of the new law, same-sex sexual activity was punishable in the Islamic state with up to 10 years’ imprisonment.