India’s first openly gay prince says his parents insisted on "conversion brain surgery"
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has managed to avoid being subjected to brain surgery and electroshocking as part of the "conversion therapy" still practised in India. Now he is fighting for its complete ban.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil is the heir of the Maharaja of Rajpipla in Gujarat. He is also the only holder of a princely title in India to speak openly about his homosexual orientation. When he admitted it in 2006, angry mobs burned his effigies in the streets.
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The prince's family reacted no better. The distraught parents wanted to "fix" their son at all costs. Gohil recalls that they were determined to do anything, including subjecting him to "conversion brain surgery". Fortunately, they sought medical help in the United States, where doctors refused such measures and informed the family that homosexuality was not a mental disorder.
Prince Gohil fights for a ban on conversion 'therapy'
Prince Gohil spoke to skynews.com in relation to its recent reports that "conversion therapy", or attempts to "cure" people of homosexuality and other types of non-heteronormativity, is still being offered by Indian doctors.
This is despite Indian regulations declaring such therapies to be "medically wrong". Prince Gohil is actively fighting for legal provisions to ban conversion therapy - a source of great suffering, most often for very young people.
It was an absolute case of discrimination, violation of human rights, whether I'm a prince or not a prince, parents have no right to put their children into such kind of a torture.
17 years after he had admitted he was gay, Gohil managed to regain his family's full acceptance. His father has even donated him land to build a centre for the LGBTQ+ community. The prince also admitted does not blame his parents for their initial reactions to his confession.
"It is a lack of education, lack of awareness which causes people to be homophobic and bigoted... It's our duty to educate them and to make them aware about the facts," Gohil said.
Source: skynews.com
