When the Sultan of Brunei last week announced a moratorium on the much-condemned death penalty for gay sex, some hailed the move as a major advance. But inside the tiny South-East Asian nation, members of the LGBT community says there is little reason to celebrate – and much still to fear.
In an interview with the Telegraph, one gay man, who asked to be identified only as ‘M’, warned that the apparent turnaround would only be temporary. The moratorium declared following an international backlash was "for appearances only," he said, a "performative" reprieve adopted in part due to Ramadan.
Once the religious season was over, M said, he expected the death penalty would be reinstated. And even if it was not, he said, "it’s a living hell here either way."
The sultan drew global condemnation over the Shariah penal code, which mandates punishments including death by stoning for sex outside marriage and anal sex; amputation of limbs for theft; and 40 lashes for lesbian sex. After protests led by celebrities such as George Clooney and Elton John and calls to boycott his luxury hotels, the authoritarian leader said a moratorium on the death penalty observed by Brunei for two decades would also be applied to the new laws.
But the announcement – accompanied by a rare English translation – was nothing but a "cynical attempt to reassure critics", said Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher for Human Rights Watch’s LGBT rights programme.
"The sultan could reverse his decision on a whim, and the punishments of amputation and whipping could still be used," Ms Ghoshal said, adding that the silencing and terrorising of LGBT people continued.
One young lesbian, who asked to be identified as ‘T’, said that she was ostracised after a friend discovered and revealed her sexuality. After she was fired from her job, an influential man blackmailed her into acting as his prostitute, saying he would out her and block her access to work. Regardless of the legal situation, T said, she is "already living a prison sentence".
While Brunei’s society is becoming increasingly conservative, the sultan himself is said to have a personal life that would generously be referred to as colourful. Described by a 2011 Vanity Fair piece as “constant companions in hedonism”, he and his brother Prince Jefri are alleged to have spent much of the 1980s and 1990s throwing lavish parties and running a ‘harem’ at their nearly 2000-room palace.
In 1997, the former Miss USA Shannon Marketic attempted to sue the sultan for $90 million, claiming she had been held hostage by him and his royal entourage, drugged and used as a "sex slave". The case was dropped after the sultan claimed sovereign immunity.
Meanwhile, men such as M download VPN software to evade arrest for visiting gay websites, and abandon all hopes of finding a relationship at home as a "fatal risk". Via one of the dating apps he uses, M dreams of leaving the country if he finds a man abroad to pursue a romance with. "Either I leave and get the freedom to live my life," he said, "or eventually I will commit suicide."
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