Indian Prince on Being Gay, a Royal and an Activist

A crowded cocktail bar in New York's Murray Hill neighborhood might seem like the world's least likely place to encounter a royal. But then again, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has a flair for the unexpected.

Billed as the "world's first openly gay royal," the 45-year-old prince has become a fierce civil rights activist and spokesperson for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in his native India. The son of the maharajah in Rajpipla, Gohil's public disclosure caused riots in his homeland in 2006 at the same time that his parents, who hail from an Indian dynasty more than 600 years old, publicly disowned and disinherited him. But as the leader of an Indian HIV/AIDS-focused organization and the editor of his nation's first gay lifestyle magazine, Gohil says he is now living life openly and on his own terms.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

Coming Out in India: No Royal Road
"The sooner we come to terms with our realities," he says of his decision to come forward about his sexuality, "the majority of our problems are solved. No matter what the world says, being gay is absolutely normal and natural."

In Manhattan for a cocktail gala to benefit his philanthropic foundation Lakshya Trust, Gohil strolls the red carpet with ease, dressed stylishly in a feathered orange turban and fine jewels. Later in the evening, he boasts of his "pink palace," which he describes as resembling "strawberry cake with icing." Sure, there are hints of self-mocking, but that sassy tone places him in an international fraternity from Chelsea to London's Soho back to West Hollywood.

While the mild-mannered Gohil might ooze confidence now, his early years growing up as a member of the royal family in Rajpipla, in the Indian state of Gujarat, weren't so easy. His exposure to gay culture in India, where homosexuality was illegal until recently and sex acts between two men or two women punishable offenses, was non-existent.

A super-conservative upbringing at the family residence in Mumbai only made things more problematic. He told The Los Angeles Times in 2007 that his closest friends were his servants, and he felt more affection for his nanny than he did for his mother.

In 2002, 10 years after a failed -- and, he now says, unconsummated -- marriage to an Indian princess, Gohil suffered a nervous breakdown. It was at that point that a psychiatrist informed his family of his sexual orientation.

Though his parents were shocked at first, it wasn't until four years later, when Gohil came forward about his sexuality in a local publication that they publicly disowned and disinherited him. Naturally, it didn't help that, as the only son, Gohil was next in line to the throne.

"It's not natural. Anything which is not natural," King Ragubir Gohil Singh, the prince's father, told ABC in 2007. "You can't have children because it is not something which one is meant for." Meanwhile, stories about Singh Gohil were splashed all over Indian newspapers, while locals burned effigies of him. "As long as royal secrets were preserved within the four walls of the palace, it was fine," the prince recalls. "But Indian society is very conservative, so that instigated them to public disown and disinherit me."

Although the prince's sexuality might have created turmoil on the home front, it nonetheless inspired him to enter the world of philanthropy, which in turn made him a global media star. In 2000, Gohil co-founded Lakshya Trust, an organization that serves as a support system for gay and bisexual men on issues of HIV/AIDS sexual education, human rights and mental health. He says his decision to come out six years after founding the organization was partly inspired by its establishment.

"Being attached to a cause added more respect," he reflects. "Because most royal families are respected for what our ancestors have done for the development and welfare for our societies, we are treated as role models and we exert a lot of influence on the society. A lot of people now say they respect for me for my honesty."

The Lakshya Trust also caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who invited the prince to appear on her show twice, first in 2007 and more recently in January. Gohil's collaboration with Winfrey will continue with a feature-length documentary, slated to shoot when she visits India this summer. The organization itself is hoping to open the first retirement home for Indian's LGBT community as well as a local hospice for HIV/AIDS patients.

Although Gohil is now back in the fold with his parents, the prince still has family matters on his mind -- among them, how to mend that royal lineage problem. "Adoption has been common in royal families," he says. "My adoption will ensure that my family doesn't end with me."

Could an extravagant royal wedding, perhaps at that strawberry cake-like palace, one day be in the works? With India just entering the early stages of its LGBT rights movement, the timing for gay marriage might be a ways off, although not in neighboring Nepal, which is encouraging gay couples to tie the knot amidst the world's highest mountains. As for himself, the prince clearly isn't ruling out the chance of finding love, adding with a smile, "I'm single and ready to mingle!"