Lesbian traveller, 26, who cancelled a trip to Brunei due to its new Sharia anti-gay laws slams Flight Centre for refusing to refund cancellation fees
- Shannon, 26, cancelled a flight with Royal Brunei Airlines after new anti-gay laws
- She said she feared for safety during the flight and four-hour stop over in Brunei
- Shannon called flight centre to cancel trip and they eventually waived their fee
- However her and the friend are required to pay a $300 cancellation fee to airline
A lesbian traveller who cancelled a flight with Royal Brunei Airlines over the country’s new anti-gay laws has slammed Fight Centre after it refused to pay her cancellation fees.
Shannon, 26, and her lesbian friend Jacqueline, 28, had booked a flight last month with a stopover in Brunei but decided to cancel a few weeks later.
The pair feared they would be targeted during the flight and the four-hour stopover after new anti-gay laws were brought in on Friday including making gay sex punishable by death.
Shannon (right) and her friend Jacqueline (left) decided to cancel a flight with Royal Brunei Airlines after new anti-gay laws
Shannon called flight centre and also contacted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as well as Royal Brunei Airlines.
Flight centre agreed to waive their cancellation fees but claimed the pair would need to pay the $300 RBA fee.
But Shannon is arguing Flight Centre should cover their cancellation fee too.
‘It’s not that we can’t afford the cancellation fees. It’s just that it’s them putting a price on our life and that isn’t right,’ she told news.com.au.
‘Being a second-class citizen on a holiday? I don’t need to do that,’ Shannon said.
A Flight Centre spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: ‘In line with the customers’ requests and in line with our policy, we will waive any of our fees in the circumstances. Unfortunately though, we cannot waive fees that the airline applies.’
‘We did what the customers asked and [they] indicated they would be happy with that,’ the spokesperson said.
Shannon contacted flight centre claiming she feared she would be targeted during the flight and four-hour stopover
Chief executive of LGBTI advocacy group Thorne Harbour, Simon Ruth, said travel agents who sold these flights need to be offering refunds.
‘Our preference would be that the government rescind RBA’s rights to fly in Australia,’ he said.
‘Any travel agent selling these flights is now profiting from these terrible laws.’
The Muslim-majority nation which is ruled by billionaire Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was the first Asian country to adopt sharia laws in 2014.
The first phase which involved prison sentences and fines begun in 2014, however the Sultan said the law’s full force was going to be implemented over several years.
Brunei introduced the new laws on Friday which punish gay sex by stoning people to death.
People who ‘persuade, tell or encourage’ Muslim children under the age of 18 ‘to accept the teachings of religions other than Islam’ can also be jailed.
Celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres and George Clooney have asked the public to boycott a number of hotels worldwide that are owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
Flight centre agreed to waive their cancellation fees but claimed the pair would need to pay the $300 Royal Brunei Airline fee
Brunei, ruled by billionaire Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (pictured), introduced new laws on Friday which punish gay sex by stoning people to death