No country for queers!

His Royal Highness Hassanal Bolkiah, sultan of the tiny but oil-rich state of Brunei, in southeast Asia, is a good Muslim, very keen to follow as closely as possible the moral code of Islam, the basis of Sharia law. Being the ruler, Sultan Hassanal has not just the will but the power to impose his strict beliefs on his country. And so it comes to pass that new Islamic criminal laws take effect in Brunei today, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Brunei's Shariah Penal Code, instituted by Sultan Hassanal in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim. Even before 2014, homosexuality was punishable by a jail term of up to 10 years. The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays. The second stage raises the bar considerably.

Those found guilty of gay sex could be stoned to death or whipped. Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second. The new laws apply to everyone, including children and foreigners, even if they are kafirs (read: non-Muslims = infidels). So if you're into deviant sex of any kind, or even normal sex outside a marital relationship, you'd do well to take Brunei off your list of the 100 places you want to visit before you die.

The usual gang of non-Muslim celebrities are in full cry against the new laws. Ignoring the fact that the law of Brunei is none of the business of Westerners, the likes of George Clooney, Elton John and (of course) Ellen DeGeneres have been vocal in opposition to the new laws, calling for a boycott of hotels in the USA and Europe with ties to Sultan Hassanal. Mr Clooney asks, "Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?" While you can't shame "murderous regimes", he wrote in Deadline Hollywood, "you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them."

Pro-queer politicos in Germany, France, the UK and (of course) Canada -- even the USA -- expressed "deep concern" about Brunei's new laws. In Brunei itself, there has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties. That could be because the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority to do whatever he thinks is right. And what he thinks is right is pretty clear. Sultan Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of "special guidance" from God and would be "part of the great history of Brunei."