A person’s education and awareness on LGBTQ issues is often irrelevant when it comes to the position they take on the sexuality of their own children.

Both my parents (Raghubir Singh Gohil, current honorary maharaja of Rajpipla, Gujarat and Rukmani Devi Gohil, daughter of former maharaja of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan) are post-graduates. They are also aware of LGBTQ people.  Growing up, I have heard them saying, so and so person in this royal family is gay, so and so person in that royal family is lesbian. But when it came to the sexuality of their own son, they had a problem accepting it.

Royal families outside, were divided on the issue of my homosexuality. While some supported and stood by me, others were scared. They started brainwashing my parents to stop me from coming out as they feared that I will tarnish their reputation too by naming other closeted royal family members.

I was subjected to a lot of emotional black mail and torture. My parents were hell bent on converting me to become “normal.” 

First they took me to doctors in Mumbai to “cure” me. Thanks to the sensitisation works done by Humsafar Trust (one India’s largest LGBT rights organisations), they could not find any doctors who could declare me as mentally unstable. Then they tried to send me to America for a brain surgery to find out what’s wrong with my brain.  This too didn’t happen after the American Psychiatric Association said homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder to be treated.

My mother, however, kept on threatening me with dire consequences, if I didn't mend my ways. The harassment was unbearable at times. But I fully cooperated, as advised by my mentor Ashok Row Kavi (founder, Humsafar Trust), because in my heart of hearts I knew I was not going to become straight. And I did not want to disappoint my parents either.

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(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.)