India’s first openly gay prince, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, has bravely shared his harrowing experience of his parents’ attempt to change his sexuality through brain surgery. Prince Gohil, the heir of the Maharaja of Rajpipla in Gujarat, revealed that he felt humiliated when his mother and father sought medical help to “convert” him after he came out to them as gay.
In light of a recent Sky News investigation exposing the persistence of gay conversion therapy in India, despite being widely discredited as “medical misconduct” by the nation’s regulators, Prince Gohil has taken a stand against the practice. He has initiated a legal battle at India’s Supreme Court to seek a complete ban on conversion therapy through legislation.
Recalling his parents’ desperate efforts to change him, Prince Gohil stated, “It was an absolute case of discrimination and violation of human rights. Whether I’m a prince or not a prince, parents have no right to put their children through [this] kind of torture.” He recounted how his parents consulted doctors with the hope of conducting brain surgery or subjecting him to electroshock therapy to alter his sexual orientation.
However, their attempts failed as doctors in the US, where the “treatment” was sought, refused to perform such procedures, emphasizing that homosexuality is not a mental disorder. Despite the failure, Prince Gohil emphasized the immense psychological distress he had to endure due to the harassment and humiliation caused by his parents’ actions. He expressed concern that many individuals in India faced similar ordeals.
Prince Gohil, who made headlines in 2006 when he publicly came out as gay, faced severe backlash from protestors who burnt effigies of him in his home state. Despite the challenges, he now says he has reconciled with his parents and remains “100% optimistic” that his legal battle will be successful, citing the Indian judicial system’s increasing open-mindedness.
Reflecting on the transformation in his family’s attitude, Prince Gohil asserted, “When I came out, I said, ‘I don’t blame my parents, I don’t blame the people that are against me, that hate me’; I blame their ignorance on this subject. It is a lack of education, lack of awareness which causes people to be homophobic and bigoted… It’s our duty to educate them and to make them aware about the facts.”
The positive change in his parents is evident as Prince Gohil’s father gifted him 15 acres of land to establish an LGBT community building. Though he acknowledges that it takes time, he is grateful that his family now accepts him for who he is.