Manvendra Singh Gohil is an Indian prince who is the son and probable heir of the Maharaja of Rajpipla in Gujarat. He is the first openly gay prince in the world. He runs a charity, the Lakshya Trust, which works with the LGBT community.
Biography
He was born in Ajmer, the only son of Maharana Shri Raghubir Singhji Rajendrasinghji Sahib, Maharana of Rajpipla, and his wife Maharani Rukmini Devi. He has one sister, Minaxi Kumari, who is married into the princely family of Chenani in Jammu and Kashmir. In 1971, the government of India "de-recognized" the Indian princes, and Manvendra's father consequently lost the official title of Maharaja and the privy purse that came with it. The princes adjusted to the new socialist regime; the Rajpipla royals converted their family seat, the Rajvant Palace in Rajpipla, into a tourist resort and location for film-shooting. They also set up a second residence in Mumbai. He was educated at Bombay Scottish School and at the Amrutben Jivanlal College of Commerce and Economics and Daily News Analysis, an English newspaper. Soon the news appeared in other English and vernacular newspapers across the country, and became a story that they followed up in their gossip and society pages for several weeks afterward. Manvendra's effigies were burnt in Rajpipla, where people were shocked. Manavendra was jeered and heckled when he made a public appearance in the town. His family accused him of bringing dishonor and disowned him soon after. He appeared as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show on 24 October 2007. He was one of three persons featured in the show entitled 'Gay Around the World'. He inaugurated the Euro Pridegay festival in Stockholm, Sweden, on 25 July 2008. He featured in a BBC Television series, Undercover Princes, screened on BBC Three in the UK in January 2009 which documented his search for a British boyfriend in Brighton. Since July 2010, he has served as editor of the gay male-centric print magazine Fun, which is published in Rajpipla. In July 2013, Prince Manvendra married the American citizen DeAndre Richardson in Seattle, Washington. When DeAndre met his new family-in-law in India, Manvedra's father created him Duke of Hanumanteshwar.
Charitable activities
In 2000, he started the Lakshya Trust, of which he is chairman, a group dedicated to HIV/AIDS education and prevention. A registered public charitable trust, Lakshya is a community-based organisation working for HIV/AIDS prevention among men who have sex with men. It provides counselling services, clinics for treatment of sexually transmitted infections, libraries, and condom-use promotion. The trust also trains female field workers who educate women married to MSM about safe sex practices. Lakshya won the Civil Society Award 2006 for its contribution in preventing HIV/AIDS among homosexual men. The trust also creates employment opportunities for gay men and support for other organisations for MSMs, and plans to open a hospice/old age home for gay men. Lakshya is a member of the India Network For Sexual Minorities and a founding member of the Sexual Health Action Network. In 2007, Manvendra joined the Interim Governing Board of the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health, known as APCOM, a regional coalition of MSM and HIV community-based organisations, the government sector, donors, technical experts and the UN system. He serves as India Community Representative on behalf of INFOSEM, the India MSM and HIV network. Manvendra said of this work, "APCOM is one of the best mediums to bring together different nationalities and develop linkages with others working for HIV and MSM/TG. In India, it will be an important tool to influence authorities to change thinking and broaden outlooks for the betterment of society. APCOM demonstrates the essence of unity and solidarity within diversity." In January 2008, while performing an annual ceremony in Rajpipla in honour of his great-grandfather Maharaja Vijaysinhji, Manvendra Gohil announced plans to adopt a child, saying: "I have carried out all my responsibilities as the prince so far and will continue as long as I can. I will also adopt a child soon so that all traditions continue". If the adoption proceeds, it will be the first known case of a single gay man adopting a child in India. In 2018 Manvendra opened up his 15-acre palace grounds to help house vulnerable LGBT people who might otherwise be "left with nothing" when "their families disown them after coming out".
In popular culture
In May 2009, it was announced that there are plans to turn Prince Manvendra's life story into a major motion picture. The script will be written by a member of the erstwhile Kapurthala royal family, Prince Amarjit Singh.
