Manvendra Singh Gohil is the heir of the honorary Maharaja of Rajpipla, a town in Gujarat. He is considered the first openly gay prince in the world. He is known for being one of India's foremost LGBT activists. The prince first gained media attention in 2006, when he openly declared his sexuality, which sparked angry protests in Gujarat. His effigies were burnt by crowds. He is the founder of the Lakshya Trust, an LGBTQ+ charity based in the Indian state of Gujarat. He has made numerous international appearances, including on The Oprah Winfrey Show. On 3rd July 2013 he got married to Duke deAndre Richardson. In conversation with Sky News, the Indian prince explained the circumstances that he had to go through. He revealed how his parents were desperate in finding ways to "perform surgery" on his brain and even took him to electroshock therapy. However, their efforts went in vain after as fortunately the American Psychiatric Association had said that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, so they were not successful, the doctors in the US firmly refused to perform any medical procedures on him, stating that homosexuality is not a mental disorder. "It was an absolute case of discrimination and violation of human rights. Whether I'm a prince or not a prince, parents have no right to put their children through [this] kind of torture," he added. He said that though nothing happened, the pain and humiliation he had to go through because of his parents were due to lack of education and awareness which causes people to be homophobic and bigoted in India. "It's our duty to educate them and to make them aware about the facts." According to Sky News, the Indian prince has now launched a legal battle in the Supreme Court to get conversion therapy banned outright by law.

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