Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Sharia law plunges Brunei gay community into fear

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Friday, April 5, 2019

Sharia law plunges Brunei gay community into fear

Yahoo – AFP, April 4, 2019

Brunei, ruled by the all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, has fully implemented
tough new Islamic laws after years of delays (AFP Photo)

Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei) (AFP) - Transgender woman Zoella Zayce fled her native Brunei last year as the country shifted towards hardline Islam, and thinks more of the LGBT community will follow after the death penalty for gay sex was introduced.

The absolute monarchy on tropical Borneo island, ruled by a sultan who has been on the throne five decades, implemented tough new Islamic laws on Wednesday, including death by stoning for sex between men, and adultery.

The new sharia penal code has sparked a global outcry with governments around the world condemning the measures, and celebrities -- led by actor George Clooney -- calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted.

The country's tiny lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, who already had to be discreet about their sexual identities in the highly conservative Muslim country, have been left terrified.

"What Brunei is adopting is a violation of basic human rights," a 33-year-old gay man in the country, who spoke anonymously, told AFP.

"All the condemnation and boycott calls internationally speak volumes -- Brunei should just abandon these laws and continue to stick to moderate Islam."

Zayce fled Brunei last year due to the increasingly conservative climate and is now seeking asylum in Canada.

Plans to implement sharia law were announced in 2013 and the first phase, with less stringent punishments, came into effect the following year, before the entire penal code was implemented this week.

Zayce said that gay people in Brunei, who were leading "secretive lives" even before death by stoning came into force, were now even more scared.

"Some worry a lot and would like to escape the country before they are found out not to be heterosexual," the 19-year-old said.

Khairul, a gay man in Brunei who gave only one name, described the laws as "daunting", adding: "When I'm ready, I'll be on my way to a safer community."

Before the sharia punishments came into effect, sex between men was already punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

It is now a capital offence, while lesbian sex is punishable by up to 40 strokes of the cane and a decade in prison.

No govt engagement, no NGOs

Observers say it is hard to know the size of the LGBT community in the country of about 400,000 people.

That is because there is nowhere members feel safe to gather openly -- such as gay clubs or bars -- and there is not thought to be any accurate data available on them.

"The LGBT community tends to keep a low profile and LGBT (people) are generally much less open than in some of Brunei's neighbours, such as Thailand," Matthew Woolfe, founder of rights group The Brunei Project, told AFP.

"The government does not engage with the LGBT community and no NGOs are working with them."

Woolfe organised Brunei's first ever LGBT event -- a 2016 gathering at a hotel in the sultanate to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia -- and was subsequently barred from visiting the country.

However sharia law appears to enjoy substantial support in Brunei and some are doubtful the harshest penalties -- such as death by stoning, and severing of limbs for theft -- will be imposed.

Analysts say the new code may be largely symbolic as Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah seeks to burnish his Islamic credentials with conservatives, and note that although Brunei has long had the death penalty, the last known execution was in 1957.

In addition, the burden of proof for stoning to death to be imposed is high. An accused person must either confess, or there must be four witnesses who can testify the offence was committed.

Some members of the LGBT community believe the changes may in reality make little difference in a country where most gay people were already secretive about their sexualities.

A 23-year-old transgender woman in Brunei, who declined to be named, said the new laws had caused concern but added: "I think just as long as we remain discreet, it will be fine."