Unable to take the medical route (as doctors and scientific bodies refused to regard homosexuality as a disorder or a disease), my parents (Raghubir Singh Gohil, current honorary Maharajah of Rajpipla and Rukmani Devi Gohil, daughter of former maharajah of Jaisalmer)turned to religion.

So for the next three years, I went with them to meet various religious leaders all over India. I followed all the rituals and dietary changes these gurus suggested to rid my mind of homosexual thoughts—from becoming a vegetarian to chanting holy mantras to lighting lamps in the evening— I did whatever they told me to do.

My mother was very adamant that the only option before me, if I don’t wish to get married to a girl, was to renounce this world and become a saint.

I didn’t know it then, but what I discovered eventually, shocked me.  Some of the so called religious leaders, whom I met, were gay and lesbians themselves. Religion offered the perfect cover to hide their sexuality. The hypocrisy which we have in our country today is unbelievable. India is a land which produced the Kamasutra. It has a whole chapter on homosexuality in it. Temples in our country, from Khajuraho and Konark to various other places of worship have erotic as well as
homo-erotic sculptures depicted on it from centuries ago. Yet we are unwilling to accept it and continue to propagate the myth that homosexuality is a Western import.

My experience with religious leaders left me wondering how anyone who is gay himself turn me straight.  These are the people who are not brave enough to face the world.

Today some of these gurus are my clients. I provide counselling to them on LGBTQ issues.

(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.)