Same-sex sexual activity became illegal in Brunei in 1906 when the sultanate became a British Protectorate.
Straits Settlements (British territories in southeast Asia) law was applied by the 1906 Courts Enactment, which was repealed and updated by the Courts Enactment 1908. Homosexual activity remained illegal after Brunei gained independence in 1984. Before the 2019 implementation of the Penal Code Order (SPCO), homosexual acts were punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment, even if they were private and consensual. From 2014, Brunei began a staged implementation of
Sharia () law. Following widespread international condemnation and media attention, which included an open letter from American actor
George Clooney calling for the boycott of the Sultan of Brunei's luxury
hotels—
The Beverly Hills Hotel and
Hotel Bel-Air among them—the Brunei government extended its moratorium on the death penalty to encompass the SPCO in May 2019. Under the moratorium, the code's death by stoning penalty provisions are not enacted, for as long as the moratorium continues. The moratorium could be lifted at any time by the sultanate, allowing such death-by-stoning punishments to commence. As the sultan is an
absolute monarch with full executive power, removing the moratorium and reinstating capital punishment would require minimal process and could occur without warning. Their implementation was delayed until April 2019, after the Sultan declared that these laws should be regarded as "special guidance" from God. This is also the
de facto penalty while the moratorium on the death penalty continues. For unmarried men, one year in prison or 100 lashes is the penalty. ==Gender identity and expression==