First Openly Gay Prince in India Opens Up About Conversion Therapy Threats
July 31, 2023India’s first openly gay prince has opened up about his parents’ reaction to his coming out and their attempts to use conversion therapy practices on him as a response. In an interview with Sky News, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil expressed how humiliated he felt when his mother and father decided to seek out medical “help” in the form of brain surgery in an attempt to convert him to heterosexual.
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Despite India’s regulators discrediting conversion practices as ‘medical misconduct’ and widely disproving their effectiveness, gay conversion therapy is still offered by doctors across the nation.
Prince Gohil, one of India’s most prolific LGBTQ+ rights activists, has set into motion a legal case in an attempt to ban conversion therapy by law through the Indian Supreme Court. Describing the “pain and suffering” he endured due to his parents’ negative response, Gohil told Sky News what prompted his decision to make changes to Indian legislation.
"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 went on to reveal that his parents sought ways for doctors to "perform a surgery” on his brain in order to change his sexuality, and even subject him to electroshock therapy. This attempt was unsuccessful, however, as they searched for means of conversion practices in the United States, where doctors told them that homosexuality was not a disorder to be cured.
Prince Gohil reflected on how, although he was not subject to the forms of ‘treatment’, his thoughts are with those who were not able to avoid this path. "It didn't happen but imagine how much harassment one has to go through, how much humiliation one has to go through, just to endure this pain and suffering at the hands of parents - and this is happening to so many individuals in India."
His bid to criminalize conversion therapy practices through the Supreme Court comes at a time where the Court is also considering legalize gay marriage throughout the country – opening doors for a promising future for LGBTQ+ rights in India. Prince Gohil described his optimism towards this legal battle, believing in recent years the Indian judicial system has become quite open-minded.
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