Indians behave rather oddly when it comes to sexuality. As a society we are homophobic, anti-LGBT and all, but when it comes to the way we behave in public, we are homosocial.

Right from childhood you are told, if you are a boy, you are allowed to mix only with boys and not with girls. Even in private space, only members of the same sex are allowed. For instance, only boys are allowed to come to your bedroom, not girls. Members of the same sex can embrace each other in public and no one would even bat an eyelid.

But if a boy and girl engage in some sort of public display of affection, there can be serious repercussions.  It’s kind of weird. I grew up in a similar homosocial environment that condemned
any heterosexual interaction. In my palace, there were segregated quarters for both men and women where only members of the same sex were allowed to enter.

So growing up, I thought it was heterosexual behaviour that was not accepted by the society.

As a royal family member I had to abide by a lot of protocols, rules and regulations. You are not allowed to do anything of your own. Also you will be surrounded all the time by some palace security guards or servants to look after you. So I had a pretty isolated upbringing, without any friends.

I studied in a co-ed school. Even though I liked boys, in school I ended up having more girlfriends than boyfriends because I used to protect girls from boys who used to bully them.

The first time I felt sexual attraction towards the same sex was at the age of 13. It was my servant boy who was employed to look after me. I developed a crush for him and he eventually ended up taking care of my sexual needs as well.

(Continues)

(Manvendra Singh Gohil is the first openly gay prince in the world. In conversation with Sangeeth Sebastian, writer and founder, Vvox, a sextech platform. The series is a part of an AKADialog initiative to capture the lives of newsmakers.)