‘LA officials call for boycott of Brunei-owned hotels’:

AngeLes: Officials and LGBTQ leaders in California joined a growing chorus of people calling for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels in the Los Angeles area.

The call to boycott the Beverly Hills Hotel, once the playground of Hollywood celebrities, and Hotel Bel-Air came after the sultanate announced plans to implement the death penalty for gay sex.

“As a city-wide elected official, I represent a diverse community of Angelenos, and I call on everyone to boycott the hotels owned by Brunei’s royal family,” LA Controller Ron Galperin said in a statement.

“I will not set foot in these establishments so long as they are owned and controlled by a regime that is willing to kill LGBTQ people.

“While I feel bad for the many hard-working employees of these local hotels, no one should support or attend any events there while lives are on the line.”

Los Angeles Council member Paul Koretz said people should shun both hotels even “if that means marring their reputation and fabled history.”

“The city of Los Angeles and the United States and world should place severe sanctions on Brunei for taking LGBTQ rights back to the Stone Age,” said Karina Samala, chair of the Transgender Advisory Council.

“We are all human beings with a right to live in freedom.”

Elton John and George Clooney have also called for a boycott of the hotels and other properties owned by the sultanate in Britain, France and Italy.

The new Islamic penal code, or Syaria law, which came into force in the South-East Asian sultanate yesterday, has drawn fierce criticism from rights groups and the United Nations.

Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed, in the face of opposition by rights groups, and as officials worked out the practical details.