This year’s pride month may be coming to an end, but the prejudice, discrimination, and violence towards the LGBTQ+ movement across the globe continues to be a daily struggle for the community.
As of 2020, same-sex marriage is illegal in 83% of the world, with homosexuality still a punishable crime in certain areas of Africa and Asia. Individuals who identify as homosexuals residing in these countries live in fear for their well-being daily, as some can face up to life in prison or the death sentence for their own sexual orientation.
In 2000, the Lakshya Trust was founded in the state of Gujarat in Western India. The word ‘Lakshya’ means aim, and the trust is dedicated to advocating social, education, mental and physical health issues concerning sexual minorities. In India, where same-sex marriage is not legal, the country has colonial laws that discriminate against the LGBT community that are still intact and are being renewed, causing the LGBT community in India to face social and legal difficulties on a day to day basis. Since there is so much stigma surrounding the topic of homosexuality in India, informative resources for the LGBT community regarding the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and psychological support for LGBT are scarce and limited. The organization aims to change that by providing programs and services, including HIV/AIDS outreach and awareness programs, STI care / Health camps, counseling, etc. Currently, the trust owns 11 drop-in centers in several cities, over 179 peer educators, and a project team of 83 personnel, leading the Lakshya Trust to be the largest community-based MSM organization in both the state of Gujarat as well as India.
One of the Lakshya Trust’s biggest impacts is their contribution to HIV/AIDS education. They provided prevention and treatment among MSM (men who have intercourse with men) and GBT (gay, bisexual and transgender) in Gujarat. With the support of the local government, the trust provides programs and services including HIV/AIDS outreach and awareness programs. They have been actively working with female partners for 16 years to encourage condom usage, spotting, and treating symptoms of STDs. The programs presently work with 100 females and have reached out to over 10,000 MSM throughout the years. They have also worked with the National AIDS Control Organization to conduct an HIV and STI surveillance exercise to analyze the prevalence rate of HIV among MSM.
One of the most notable things about the Lakshya Trust is that it is founded by the Indian Prince Manvendra Gohil, who publicly came out as gay soon after he founded the Lakshya Trust. He is the first openly gay prince in the world, and his story of acceptance, self-love, and growth has touched the hearts of many.
Prince Manvendra was born into Maharaja, one of the most prestigious royal families in India with 600 years of history. Growing up as the only son and male heir to his family, he lived a luxurious lifestyle. He had 22 servants, received the best education, went on vacations, etc. However, he always noticed that he was different from the boys at his school as he felt an attraction to the same gender. Although at that time, sex education was basically non-existent, and he didn’t even know homosexuality existed, which led him to be hidden and confused about his sexuality.
However, everything changed in 1991, when his parents arranged a marriage between him and Chandrika Kumari, an Indian princess from Juhabua State. When asked later on in an interview why he went along with the marriage even though he was doubtful of his sexuality, his response was,
“I was so much unaware of this whole thing (homosexuality) that I thought probably after I get married, maybe I could become a heterosexual.”
Immediately after his marriage, he realized that he had made a huge mistake. The marriage remained unconsummated as he did not have any physical or sexual attraction towards his spouse. The pair filed for divorce a year after their failed marriage, and Prince Manvendra vowed to never get married again.
Following his divorce, his parents decided to arrange another marriage for him. He was unwilling and hesitant, and the pressure of marriage caused him a lot of mental stress. This led to him having a mental breakdown, to which he was hospitalized.
During his recovery, Prince Manvendra became close friends with an openly gay reporter named Ashok Row Kavi, who helped him to find comfort in his sexual orientation. It wasn’t long after that Prince Manvendra finally gave an interview at a local newspaper to announce his homosexuality.
So as you can imagine the shock when the Indian prince - Manvendra Gohil published his coming out story that made headlines across India and in the western media as well. The topic of homosexuality is considered very taboo and utterly frowned upon in India, so as you can imagine, it is extremely rare for high-ranking officials or well-respected members in society to publicly come out as a homosexual. There was an immense amount of backlash to his coming out. His mother publicly disowned him, and the people held riots in the streets and burnt his effigies, declaring the Prince dead.
Despite all the negativity surrounding his coming out, Prince Manvendra has dedicated all of his time and energy into to the Laykshya Trust, in order to raise awareness and educate more people about homosexuality and sexually transmitted diseases.
It is LGBT activists like Prince Manvendra who use their platform to not only spread awareness and change but also fight the stigma surrounding the LGBT community, improving the lives of the LGBT community across the world.
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