Manvendra Singh Gohil

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Yuvraj Shri Manvendra Singhji Raghubir Singhji Sahib (known as Manavendra Singh Gohil, Manavendrasingh Gohil, or Manvendra Gohil) is the Prince of the Indian princely state of Rajpipla. Following Indian convention for putative royals, he is referred to by his given name, not his surnames.

He was disinherited after coming out as gay, but was later welcomed back into the family. As of 2008, he is the only known person of royal lineage to have publicly come out as gay.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2008, while performing an annual ceremony in Rajpipla in honour of his great-grandfather Vijaysinh Gohil, the Prince announced plans to adopt a child from his extended family, saying: "I have carried out all my responsibilities as the prince so far and will continue as long as I can. I will also adopt a child soon so that all traditions continue"[1]. If the adoption proceeds, it will be the first known case of a single gay man adopting a child in India.

Manvendra is an organic farmer.

1 Early life
2 Coming out
3 Charitable activities
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Early life

He was born at Ajmer, 23 September 1965 as the son of the Maharana Shri Raghubir Singhji Rajendrasinghji Sahib, who has been Maharaja of Rajpipla since 1963. Prince Manvendra had a traditional and conservative upbringing. He was educated at Scottish High School and at Amrutben Jivanlal College of Commerce and Economics, Vile Parle, Bombay.

In January 1991, he married princess Yuvrani Chandrika Kumari from Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, because, he claims, "I thought after marriage I will be alright because I never knew and nobody told me that I was gay and [that] this is normal. Homosexuality is not a disease. I tremendously regret for ruining her life. I feel guilty"[2]. The marriage ended in divorce when Manvendra revealed his homosexuality to his wife.

"It was a total disaster. A total failure. The marriage never got consummated. I realized I had done something very wrong"[3].

Several years after his divorce in 1992, he became involved in a social network to help gays in Gujarat.

“

It was difficult to be gay in my family. The villagers worship us and we are role models for them. My family didn't allow us to mix with ordinary or low-caste people. Our exposure to the liberal world was minimal. Only when I was hospitalized after my nervous breakdown in 2002 did my doctor inform my parents about my sexuality. All these years I was hiding my sexuality from my parents, family and people. I never liked it and I wanted to face the reality. When I came out in the open and gave an interview to a friendly journalist, my life was transformed. Now, people accept me[4].

”

[edit] Coming out

Manvendra's homosexuality was revealed to his family by doctors in 2002 following his hospitalisation for a nervous breakdown. However, it was when he talked publicly about his homosexuality in 2006 that his family took action and accused him of bringing dishonor to the dynasty. The disowning, however, is likely to remain a symbolic act rather than a legally enforceable disinheriting, given India's modern inheritance laws.^[1] He has been reunited with his father and his titles have been restored.^[2]

On 14th March 2006, the story of Manavendra's coming out made headlines in India and around the world. Effigies of the Prince were burnt in Rajpipla, and demands were made to strip him of his title.

Gohil appeared as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show on October 24, 2007. Gohil was one of three persons featured in the show entitled 'Gay Around the World'. He expressed that he has no regrets about coming out, and that he believes the people of his state respect him for his leadership in preventing and educating on HIV/AIDS.

On his coming out, Manavendra has said:

“

I knew that they would never accept me for who I truly am, but I also knew that I could no longer live a lie. I wanted to come out because I had gotten involved with activism and I felt it was no longer right to live in the closet. I came out as gay to a Gujarati daily because I wanted people to openly discuss homosexuality since it’s a hidden affair with a lot of stigma attached"[5].

”

[edit] Charitable activities

In 2000, Manavendra started and is chairman of the Lakshya Trust, a group dedicated to HIV/AIDS education and prevention. A registered public charitable trust, Lakshya is a community-based organization working for HIV/AIDS prevention among men who have sex with men (MSMs). It provides counseling services, clinics for treatment of sexually transmitted infections, libraries, and condom-use promotion. Lakshya won the Civil Society Award 2006 for its contribution in preventing HIV/AIDS among homosexual men [6].

The trust also creates employment opportunities for gay men and support for other organisations for MSMs, and plans to open a hospice/old age home for gay men.

Lakshya is a member of the India Network For Sexual Minorities (INFOSEM) and a founding member of the Sexual Health Action Network (SHAN).