Manvendra Singh Gohil is the only Indian prince who recognizes his homosexuality and helps vulnerable people of the LGTBI collective
GAYLES.TV.- Manvendra Singh Gohil is, at his 52 years, prince and heir to the throne of Rajpiplan in the western state of Gujarat, India. But what has given him popularity among his fellow citizens is the fact that he is the only Indian prince who has publicly acknowledged his homosexuality. In itself in a country like India that already has its merit, but Manvendra goes further and is building a center for vulnerable LGTBI people in their luxurious palace.
Speaking to Thomson Reuters Foundation speaks of the situation of extreme need in which people from the group are due to social prejudices, barbarities such as being forced to marry or being expelled from their homes without having a place to go “People still get a lot of pressure from their families. (…) I'm not going to have children, so I thought, why not use this space for a good purpose? " The space is a palace built in 1927 where the prince will offer rooms, medical assistance and training to facilitate the integration of vulnerable people in the workplace, specifically English classes and skills for the performance of various trades. Previously Manvendra had already collaborated with LGBT associations and the project that is currently being promoted is being financed with crowdfunding and donations from individuals.
Precisely this past week, the Supreme Court of India agreed to review an 2013 ruling declaring illegal homosexual relationships. The Supreme Court room, composed of three judges, concluded that "A group of people or individuals who exercise their (capacity for) choice should never remain in a state of fear" and from this positioning he ordered that the legitimacy of the Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalizes homosexual relationships. It is not the first time that the revision of the famous article 377 dating, no less, than the Victorian era. In the 2009 year, it was canceled by the Superior Court of New Delhi that it considered it unconstitutional, but in the 2013 its validity was ratified by the Supreme Court.
The opinion about Manvendra is that, if there are changes in the law, there will be many people who are encouraged to come out of the closet and live their sexuality in freedom but for this they will need a lot of support until the mentalities change too.
The Supreme Court itself in August of last year declared the privacy of individuals as a "fundamental right" of citizenship and sexual orientation as an "essential attribute" of that privacy. The LGTBI collective, through the mouth of the lawyer and activist Bharat Bhushan (one of the organizers of the annual gay parade), has declared EFE in relation to the 377 review that "The mentality of the judges may have changed and there will be something positive".
Let's hope so and that there will be a transformation that could change the lives of millions of people in one of the most populated countries on Earth.
Sources: lavanguardia.com, elespanol.com
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