India’s first openly gay prince has spoken out about his campaign for LGBTQ rights in India and against gay conversion therapy which aims to make gay people straight.
Royal prince Manvendra Singh Gohil came out as gay in 2006, making history, but has since faced a backlash from many in the country who are opposed to the gay community.
The 41-year-old prince says however that he does not blame anyone for this discrimination and that instead, he blames general ignorance and lack of understanding.
He told Gay Times:
"The day I came out, my effigies were burnt. There were a lot of protests, people took to the streets and shouted slogans saying that I brought shame and humiliation to the royal family and to the culture of India. There were death threats and demands that I be stripped off of my title."
Engaging in homosexual acts was illegal in India up until 2018 and could result in a life sentence.
Rejected by his own parents, the prince says they attempted to find him a 'cure' that would make him a straight man. This at one stage involved electrocution therapy. He says:
"They thought it was impossible that I could be gay because my cultural upbringing had been so rich. They had no idea that there's no connection between someone's sexuality and their upbringing. They approached doctors to operate on my brain to make me straight and subjected me to electroshock treatments."
Conversion therapy is rejected by all major psychologists and psychiatrists. It is near-universally accepted in the scientific and medical community that one cannot change their sexual orientation.
Conversion therapy has been banned in many nations and is seen as a gross violation of an individual's human-rights.
The prince says he will continue his campaign despite the repeal of Section 377, which banned homosexuality up until 2018. He added:
"It's important for people like me who have a certain reputation in society to continue the advocacy. We can't just stop because the country repealed Section 377. Now we have to fight for issues like same-sex marriage, right to inheritance, right to adoption. It's a never-ending cycle. I have to keep fighting."
[Based on reporting by: Gay Times]
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