The mahatma and the maharajah

It was news to me when I read nine years ago that Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi might have been bisexual, and had a German-Jewish bodybuilder lover during the years in South Africa.  Shocking it was to even consider the possibility.

Later, Frédéric Martel, a researcher at Sciences-Po Paris and ZHdK Zurich, looked into the original correspondence between Gandhi and the German.

The writings between the two men, as they appeared in Gandhi’s many letters, are surprising: love is present, explicitly; a dominating/dominated relationship emerges, even in the nicknames the two men call each other; there’s talk of Vaseline; and Gandhi tells Kallenbach how Kallenbach “took complete possession of [his/Gandhi’s] body.” The two men took an oath of love, a love whose nature “the world has never known.” And when they were finally separated because Kallenbach did not obtain permits to join him in India, Gandhi wrote to him saying that he dreamed of him. “These letters are very emotional. There is clearly an attraction between these two men,” Eric Itzkin, the biographer of Gandhi’s South African years, tells me when I interview him in Johannesburg.

Nein, nein. That can't be true, right?

India, where hetero-normative rules, is slowly opening up towards the non-hetero human condition.  "India also saw a 22-point increase since 2014, the first time the question was asked of a nationally representative sample there."  Now, about 37% say that homosexuality should be accepted by society.

But, acceptance is not easy.  Even when a maharajah comes out of the closet.

The fallout from his announcement was brutal, beginning with protests in his hometown, Rajpipla, where he was burned in effigy. His mother took out a newspaper advertisement to announce she was disowning him.

Where is Rajpipla?  In Gujarat.  Gandhi's home state as well.  But, worlds apart in so many ways.

Who is the royalty?

Prince Manvendra was born in 1965 to Raghubir Singh Gohil, the current honorary maharajah of Rajpipla, and Rukmani Devi Gohil, the daughter of the former maharajah of Jaisalmer.

Of course, the maharajah title does not mean anything in a democracy.  But, people still remember the old stories.

The prince has a tough time gaining acceptance.

His father, the maharajah, acknowledged in an interview that it was difficult for the family to come to terms with his son’s sexuality and the constant media attention on the family.
“But it’s his decision,” the maharajah said.
His relationship with his mother remains frosty, but other members of the family have been supportive, he says. His grandmother, on her deathbed, expressed her happiness that he had found a partner to share his life with.

I would think that talking more about Gandhi and his German-Jewish bodybuilder friend would go a long way to further LGBTQ rights and acceptance.  I wonder what Prince Manvendra thinks about that.