India’s first openly gay prince, Manvendra Singh Gohil revealed that his parents tried to make him undergo conversion therapy. Speaking to Sky News on Friday, he said that his parents would have gone to any extreme to make him straight.
He disclosed that his parents were trying to open his brain, perform brain surgery, and make him undergo electric shock therapy to make him straight.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil On Being Gay
His parents were planning to receive treatment in the United States, where conversion therapy is largely discredited, so he was able to avoid being subjected to such acts. American Psychiatric Association pointed out that homosexuality wasn’t a mental disorder, so parents were unsuccessful in getting treatment from the US.
He revealed- He has been undergoing severe humiliation and embarrassment while enduring the 'pain and sufferings of the parents’ useless attempts to change his sexual orientation.
Gohil highlighted that this was an absolute case of discrimination and a violation of human rights. "Whether I’m a prince or not, parents don't have the right to put their children into such torture," he said.
Manvendra Singh Gohail is the founder of Lakysha Trust, an LGBTQIA+ charity based in Gujarat. According to his website biography, he came out to his parents in 2002 after being hospitalised due to a nervous breakdown. Gohail pointed out that he was comfortable enough to speak publicly about his sexuality since 2006.
Gohail continued to speak up about his experience in his biography. In 2017, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, he said have no regrets about coming out publicly. He added that conversion therapy was a persistent issue, it happens to many individuals in India and can state various examples of parents literally 'torturing' their children.
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