Bigger India
World’s First Openly Gay Prince Opens His Palace Doors to Indian LGBT Community
Although India’s Supreme Court is due to review section 377 of its penal code as it affects LGBT people, the prince acknowledges that whatever the legal result, entrenched social prejudice in small towns may be harder to change.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil — believed to be the world’s first openly gay royal — is doing his part to help India’s marginalized LGBT community.
The Indian prince, 52, has opened his 15-acre palace grounds as a sanctuary for gay people under pressure in a nation where same-sex acts can result in 10-year prison sentences.
As the crown prince of Rajpipla, a socially conservative 1,500 square mile princely state in North West India, Prince Manvendra obeyed his parents and entered into an arranged marriage in 1991.