--- description: Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah handed back his honorary Oxford degree after backlash over proposed law to punish gay sex with death penalty. title: Brunei Sultan Returns Oxford Degree After Uproar Over Proposal to Punish Gay Sex With Death by Stoning image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e8e03f51afc93d3/6989497e457a5297aad6101c/brunei-sultan-hassanal-bolkiah.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LGBT Issues](/tag/lgbt-issues/) ## LGBT Issues Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Brunei Sultan Returns Oxford Degree After Uproar Over Proposal to Punish Gay Sex With Death by Stoning  by [Abby Vesoulis](/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 24, 2019 1:04 AM CUT  Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah attends an event in Bandar Seri Begawan on April 3, 2019. Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah attends an event in Bandar Seri Begawan on April 3, 2019.AFP/Getty Images  by [Abby Vesoulis](/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 24, 2019 1:04 AM CUT The Sultan of Brunei has returned an honorary degree he received from the University of Oxford in England after global backlash over his proposal to punish people who engage in same-sex relations with the death penalty, according to [Reuters ](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-lgbt-brunei/bruneis-sultan-returns-oxford-degree-after-gay-sex-death-penalty-backlash-idUSKCN1ST2BO "undefined")and [other outlets](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-48381372 "undefined"). After worldwide outrage over [the harsh laws](http://time.com/5563264/brunei-new-penal-code-what-to-know/ "undefined") Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announced in April — which stipulate that gay sex and adultery require death by stoning, and also [punish](http://time.com/5563264/brunei-new-penal-code-what-to-know/ "undefined") lesbian sex through whipping and theft through amputation — Oxford reached out to the Sultan about the honorary law degree the distinguished institution awarded him in 1993. “As part of the review process, the university wrote to notify the sultan on 26 April 2019, asking for his views by 7 June 2019,” the university told Reuters via email. “Through a letter dated 6 May 2019, the sultan replied with his decision to return the degree.” More than 115,000 people [signed a petition](https://www.change.org/p/university-of-oxford-oxford-university-rescind-the-sultan-of-brunei-s-honorary-degree/u/24391798 "undefined") on Change.org calling on Oxford to rescind the degree. Celebrities including George Clooney and Elton John also spoke out against the Sultan’s proposals. Gay sex and a number of other acts, including rape, adultery, sodomy, extramarital sex for Muslims and insulting the Prophet Muhammed, are all [punishable by death](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brunei-islamiclaws/uns-bachelet-urges-brunei-not-to-apply-death-penalty-for-gay-sex-adultery-idUSKCN1RD1UP "undefined") under the rollout of the new Sharia laws, though widespread condemnation of the code prompted a [moratorium](http://time.com/5583513/brunei-gay-sex-stoning-enforcenment/ "undefined") on the anti-LGBT punishments. Earlier this month, the Sultan said in a speech that the predominantly Muslim Asian nation of about 450,000 people [would not enforce the draconian laws](http://time.com/5583513/brunei-gay-sex-stoning-enforcenment/ "undefined") — acknowledging they raised “many questions and misperceptions” — but also defended them, [saying](https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKCN1SB0FS-OCATP "undefined") they had “merit.” Before the Sultan announced the changes in April, homosexuality was illegal in Brunei, but punished through prison time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5595215/brunei-sultan-oxford/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5595215/brunei-sultan-oxford/"},"headline":"Brunei Sultan Returns Oxford Degree After Uproar Over Proposal to Punish Gay Sex With Death by Stoning","datePublished":"2019-05-24T01:04:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:35:43.159Z","description":"Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah handed back his honorary Oxford degree after backlash over proposed law to punish gay sex with death penalty.","url":"https://time.com/5595215/brunei-sultan-oxford/","keywords":["LGBT Issues","Brunei","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e8e03f51afc93d3/6989497e457a5297aad6101c/brunei-sultan-hassanal-bolkiah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abby Vesoulis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e8e03f51afc93d3/6989497e457a5297aad6101c/brunei-sultan-hassanal-bolkiah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"brunei-death-by-stoning","caption":"Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lgbt-issues/","name":"LGBT Issues"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5595215/brunei-sultan-oxford/","name":"Brunei Sultan Returns Oxford Degree After Uproar Over Proposal to Punish Gay Sex With Death by Stoning"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Brunei Says It Won't Enforce Death by Stoning for Gay Sex","description":"Brunei will not enforce draconian anti-LGBT punishments it implemented last month as part of its rollout of Sharia law, the Sultan of Brunei said in a speech on Sunday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fouSdgzS/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-05-06T07:22:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fouSdgzS.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5595215/brunei-sultan-oxford/","duration":"PT1M50S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5595215/brunei-sultan-oxford/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```