‘Heads You Win, Tails I Lose’: The Fate of Brunei’s LGBTQ Rights in Face of the New Syariah Penal Code

How often do States consider their international reputation being signatories to international human rights documents? Brunei’s nation- building project with a stricter penal code has met with a severe international backlash. State crackdown on propagating LGBT culture and lifestyle has been harsh, unjust, and unreasonable. It brings us to the forefront to resolve human rights practice in domestic politics within an international ‘soft’ law practice for advocates. The unbearable intolerance and forced marginalization of LGBTs arises from abnormally constructed gender norms. Even policies claiming good faith discrimination would not agree to stripping human dignity, at its worst. In this article, we examine the status of LGBT rights against the international response. We then look at social repercussions of LGBT culture and lifestyle within a religious legislative machinery. We also look at how far Islamic policymaking is in conformity with international human rights documents and its problematic provisions, phased implementation, and comparative criticism.