Above: The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah

Members of the LGBTQ community are fleeing Brunei as it prepares to implement the final two phases of Sharia law, starting April 3. Under the new laws, gay sex will be punishable by whippings and stoning, as will adultery.

"I thought I would not be accepted. [I thought] I would be outcast by my family, [I thought] I would be sent to religious counseling, to help me change. But, it was worse than I thought, because of the stoning," a young gay man in Brunei, who asked for his name to be withheld, told CNN.

"It made me feel that if that comes to reality, I might as well just leave," he continued. "[The laws are] inhumane. It's a very aggressive punishment. It's not something that a human should suffer...just because of being a homosexual."

"I wanted to live my life on my own terms, in the sense that I wanted to be a woman. I wanted to live a life without religious fundamentalism, conservatism, so I just left the country," said a transgender woman who fled from Brunei to Canada. "Under Sharia law I would be fined and caned and jailed."

She added that she spent five years living in fear in her home country, calling it "a terrible way to live."

Shahiran S. Shahrani fled to Vancouver, British Columbia in October while awaiting a verdict in his trial for sedition, over a message he posted on Facebook that was critical of the government. He has since come out as gay.

"I never came out to my family, I never told them. I always hid it, I was always living in fear that people would know," he said.

"I never expected this to go this far. I knew that Brunei always wanted to have Sharia law enacted in the country; I've been expecting it since I was a kid," he continued. "But I just can't imagine living under Sharia law. Being gay in Brunei was difficult enough without Sharia law."

"It's hard to think that just being who you are could get you stoned to death."

Both report leading much happier lives in Canada.

The first phase of Sharia law was enacted in 2014, but the decision to go forward with the implementation of the remainder of the harsher penalties was delayed due to an international backlash. It was quietly presented on a government website this time around, back in December. As attention continues to grow, including celebrity-backed boycotts of hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, the nation is now defiantly defending its decision, with no plans to change course.

"Brunei Darussalam is a sovereign Islamic and fully independent country and, like all other independent countries, enforces its own rule of law," said a statement from the prime minister's office.