Jay Leno shows up at Beverly Hills Hotel to support protest of Sultan of Brunei's new stone-the-gays law

Also: Ellen Degeneres tweeted last month that she wouldn't visit either the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Hotel Bel-Air until "this issue is resolved.
      The New York Times reports that "several Hollywood-funded charities and other organizations have already canceled or moved events from those hotels — the Global Women’s Rights Awards, which are chaired by Jay and Mavis Leno, and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s annual “Night Before the Oscars” charity ball, among them."
       Travel companies are also black-listing the Sultan's hotels.


Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, worth at least $20 billion and the absolute ruler of oil-drenched Brunei, recently imposed a new criminal code on his subjects based on sharia law:

     Under the first phase of the new legal code introduced last week, fines and jail terms can be imposed for failing to attend Friday prayers, indecent behavior and pregnancies outside of marriage. A second phase later this year prescribes the severing of limbs and flogging for property crimes.
      The third phase set for late 2015 will allow for death by stoning for crimes including adultery and gay sex.

Above: An eloquent and feisty denunciation of Brunei's 67-year-old dictator by Lorrie Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center; Below: Leno takes care to distinguish the employees of the Beverly Hills Hotel from its owner, who also owns the Bel Air hotel.