Today we focus on an out member of royalty. In fact, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil is the only known royal person who is out. He is a prince of the Indian state of Rajpipla. His childhood was traditional Indian conservative, and the prince did not know that homosexuality was normal. He said, "Nobody told me that I was gay and this is normal." He married in 1995 because his family expected it but said the marriage was never consummated. Prince Manvendra finally revealed his sexual orientation to his wife and they divorced.
Prince Manvendra came out to his family in 2002 when he was hospitalized for an emotional breakdown. The family did nothing at that time, but when he came out more publicly, they tried to disown him and accused him of bringing dishonor to the dynasty. He has since been reunited with his father and retains his titles. Prince Manvendra appeared on the Oprah show last year and said that his mother does her best to avoid him, although they live in the same palace. The prince said he does not regret coming out,
"I knew that they would never accept me for who I truly am, but I also knew that I could no longer live a lie. I wanted to come out because I had gotten involved with activism and I felt it was no longer right to live in the closet. I came out as gay to a Gujarati daily because I wanted people to openly discuss homosexuality since it’s a hidden affair with a lot of stigma attached."
In 2000, Prince Manvendra started the Lakshya Trust, a community based organization that provides HIV and AIDS education. The Trust offers counseling services, clinics for treating STDs, and promotes the use of condoms. It also works to provide employment opportunities for gay men and has a plan to open a hospice/nursing home for gay men. In 2006 the Lakshya Trust won the Civil Society Award for its work in preventing HIV/AIDS among gay men.
Recently, the prince announced his plan to adopt a child. If the adoption succeeds, it will be the first known case of a single gay man adopting a child in India.
Official website for the Lakshya Trust
An Indian prince comes out
Prince Manvendra on Oprah.
Voting is still very tight on the PoP poll. I'm going to keep it open so more people can vote!
The top orchid slut. The Mrs. chose this one because of his obvious physical attributes and also because, in her words, "It looks like he has a rash!" She said it's probably an STD and he got it catting around. I bet it was that wasp! That what you get, deceiver!
btw do you all just get a little box [about 6" x 4"] to see all the comments?
ReplyDeleteBad Seed, right click the number of comments and then select Open in a New Window. The comments will be full page. Love the new avatar, btw!
Shooting on Nailed starts tomorrow. Good luck with Russell, Jake!
ReplyDeleteInteresting choice of out spot today. thank you.
ReplyDeleteI've lived in Asia most of my life, homophobia comes in a different form there. One is less likely to encounter gay bashing, but the stigma and the shame is just the same. The family will likely to react in two ways: ignore the fact til they die, or keep their distance "don't ask don't know" policy.
i still remember my friend's family insisted that he's a "late bloomer" when he was "shacking up " with his boyfriend when he's 28 years old!
The Bad Seed, love your new avatar (see previous thread). Absolutely beautiful picture of Jake among the Orchids.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this double Sunday treat Wicked.
ReplyDeleteFirst, tell the Mrs. she has great taste and that this beauty rocks; no matter what gift she got from her latest partner it left her looking stunning!
These pics made me want to visit our own Botanical Garden and check out the orchid collection once again. And the Butterflies Go Free event is still under way with African butterflies this year. :)
Prince Manvendra's story is really uplifting. It took him much courage – or as he says much pain –to come out in such a conservative environment.
What amazes me is that he's reunited with his father but his mother avoids him. Usually it's the other way around, the mother tends to be more accepting than the father, for many cultural, psychological and emotional reasons – at least that's what I've personally witnessed and heard other people say.
Winterbird, perhaps you can give us your point of view?
Prince Manvendra appeared on the Oprah show last year and said that his mother does her best to avoid him, although they live in the same palace.
ReplyDeleteSome people are not fit to be parents.
I agree Frenchy, I was surprised to read that Prince Manvendra's mother is so unaccepting, but yet his father did eventually accept. Prince Manvendra does show courage.
ReplyDeleteLoving all of these beauteous flower pics - had to experiment with a few of my own, just learning the avatar thing. I have this one in my garden, not this exact color. Love the B&W pic of Jake among the orchids, Bad Seed. :)
What a name for a band, Dengue Fever! ;)
What a great story of courage today; given the cultural differences it must have been that much harder to come out.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying all the new avatars, and I hope more of the regular posters add them.
Love the orchids, thank the missus for her great choice Wicked.
I have the same problem as bad seed with the comments. I tried right clicking on the number of comments but it doesn't work for me. Is it because I have a Mac?
You got that beautiful thing in your garden Netb? I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteI think orchids are gorgeous but I also have a fondness for hemerocallis... most probably for very selfish reasons: you plant them and they grow and spread and grow and spread almost all by themselves with minimum work by the gardener. ;)
Winterbird, I saw that we cross-posted each other earlier today but when you have a minute I'd really love to know your opinion about the prince's mother reactions towards her son.
Again, our Spotlight made me want to know more so here's a short Wiki article you might find interesting: Wiki's article on homosexuality in India.
Try Ctrl+N Destiny.
ReplyDeleteI have a PC and the right-click method doesn't work for me either.
I do, Frenchy, but a much paler pink! I love orchids, but I can't seem to get an avatar to work for one, I'll keep trying! :)
ReplyDeleteDoesn't work for me Frenchy. The odd thing is it only seems to be the comment box here I have a problem with; on other blogger sites I can just enlarge the box by dragging the bottom right corner.
ReplyDeleteAnother trick that sometimes work: move your cursor elsewhere in the header bar before right-clicking, let's say a little bit more to the right or left, closer to the "Jump to comment form" option for example.
ReplyDeleteJohn Edward Thomas Moynahan, who's daddy is Tom Brady, has a new BFF.
ReplyDeleteMommy Bridget's BFF Sam Harris and his partner Danny Jacobsen are new parents.
"Star Search winner Sam Harris, who won the competition in its premiere season, and his long-term partner, Danny Jacobsen, welcomed their first child, a son, his rep tells PEOPLE. Cooper Atticus Harris-Jacobson was born Wednesday in Los Angeles and weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. Both Harris and Jacobsen were in the delivery room with the birth mother. "We are thrilled and overjoyed," Harris tells People."
Congratulations Sam and Danny!
Great out spotlight today, Wicked. Also love the orchid photos and comments from yesterday and today. I saw an exhibit at the Smithsonian's Art and Industries Building back in 2003 called "Nature's Jewels: A Living Exhibit of Orchids and Butterflies" - it was one of the best exhibits ever. Butterflies were alighting on the orchids and on everything else - you had to enter a special chamber at the end of the exhibit to make sure that none of the butterflies were escaping on your body - they could not survive in DC's March temperatures.
ReplyDeleteWow, how very nice - congratulations Sam and Danny on the birth of their son Cooper!
ReplyDeletePrince Manvendra is quite a guy.
ReplyDeleteWhat good news about Sam and Danny :)
The orchids are lovely, I'm not sure I could find one I prefer to Austin, though :)
Nice pic, Bad Seed * ;)
Frenchy, you are right to assume that usually it's the mother who would come to accept the "news" first. Same in Asia.
ReplyDeleteIn most of my friends (in Asia) case, actually at least one of the parents knew that their son/daughter is gay before they came out. And usually it's the mother. Fortunately, none of my friends were ever "disown" by their parents. But then, Asian parents care too much about "saving faces", to disown their son/daughter means they have to come clean to other relatives/friends. Most of the would tolerate (or eventually accept it) as long as you're not flaunting in front of them. Not the best scenario, but I'd say it's better than violence.
So I couldn't really explain the prince mother's reaction. Could be that the prince's mother is a different case, could be that she's supporting another son for whatever power gain in the palace?
What amazes me is that he's reunited with his father but his mother avoids him.
ReplyDeletePrince Manvendra said that if he runs into his mother in the palace, she pretends not to see him.
But then, Asian parents care too much about "saving faces", to disown their son/daughter means they have to come clean to other relatives/friends.
This fits with the prince's family. They did nothing when he just came out to them, but when he came out more publicly they threatened to disown and disinherit him.
Great spotlight today. I think thats great that the Prince had the courage to come out although im sure he knew what the results would be. I would imagine it must be very hard to live with your family and not have them accept you fully. I find that so sad. I also am very impressed with his desire to help his community with health and acceptance issues. He's a hero in my book. I wish him well with the adoption.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Sam and Danny : )
p.s. great music today as usual.
Clarity, the Dengue Fever record is uniformly great. They do some songs totally in Cambodian, others they do in both English and Cambodian, and some are totally in English. I love their sound.
ReplyDeleteGuys, despite more voting, the poll on whether or not Jake should do PoP is STILL deadheated!
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDeleting my posts as the link doesn't seem to work.
ReplyDeleteI've been cheating, I voted no for PoP then yes for PoP when WDW revealed parts of it would be filmed near London. Please disregard my no vote. At the moment, the ayes have it :)
ReplyDeleteHow did you manage to cheat, London? The poll is supposed to only allow one vote to one computer. Unless you're posting from different computers!
ReplyDeleteJust thinking about Prince Manvendra and I wondered about part of his Oprah interview. He says that homosexuality is not a crime in and of itself, but the homosexual act is. Oprah asks him if he feels safe in the streets and he says yes, I've done nothing wrong. I wondered if this meant that he has decided to be celibate to avoid breaking the law.
Same computer, wicked ... maybe yesterday's vote didn't register - today's put me through to the results.
ReplyDeleteI wondered the same. It's so awful.
I love this band's sound too - I just found the name, a tropical disease akin to malaria, a little tongue-in-cheek, it's a great song! ;)
ReplyDeleteJust thinking about Prince Manvendra and I wondered about part of his Oprah interview. He says that homosexuality is not a crime in and of itself, but the homosexual act is. Oprah asks him if he feels safe in the streets and he says yes, I've done nothing wrong. I wondered if this meant that he has decided to be celibate to avoid breaking the law.
ReplyDeleteHe seems very confident about being allowed to adopt a child. Maybe he's overly confident in the fact that he wouldn't be prosecuted if he had a partner?
In the Wikipedia article I linked above they say that although the homosexual act is still illegal, the government no longer seeks to prosecute consenting adults who engage in it.
I tried to link twice to the announcement clip by Sam Harris but the YouTube link I found never worked. Anyway, the new father is overjoyed, to say the least. :)
Clooney almost tried to kill Russell on the set of Three Kings because of how Russell was treating people. And Jake thought Fincher was difficult! I wonder how he will handle this.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out the Tomlin vs. Russell clip too. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!
ReplyDeleteAnd tho think that guy once studied with Robert Thurman. What kind of buddhism course did he take?
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ReplyDeletePrince Manvendra rocks.
ReplyDeleteMethinks Mr. Russell still has a way to go on his path to spiritual enlightenment, or maybe he took a wrong turn somewhere. ;)
ReplyDeleteFrenchy mentioned Sam's Youtube clips on being a new daddy. Here they are.
ReplyDeleteSam Harris is a Daddy -- It's a Boy
Sam & Rosie Talk about the New Baby
ReplyDeleteAnd tho think that guy once studied with Robert Thurman. What kind of buddhism course did he take?
Well Jake and David will have something to talk about since Jake has a class with Robert Thurman at Columbia too.
Tracy Morgan brings his own kind of commotion onto the set.Sometimes a good thing, sometimes not.
Glad that Catherine Keener is on the project. She and Jake have such a great rapport. Can wait to see her play Jake's political foil.
And there's the mystery why Jake is doing Nailed. Ragefull Russell, Beil Who? and can she act? and the lame sounding Nailed plot.
ReplyDeleteGood post today! Another person, repressed in so many ways. And we think we have it bad in our homelands?
Thx for the flowerbox tips. lol.
Tom did an avatar! I'm so proud!
ReplyDeleteWell Jake and David will have something to talk about since Jake has a class with Robert Thurman at Columbia too."
ReplyDeleteTalk about? How about being screamed at? I swear this blog is becoming another WDW and Jake Watch in its obliviousness to reality.
& thx for the comments on avatar. WASP Jake lured by Orchid sluts & ready to fornicate. hope Jake doesn't get a rash.
ReplyDelete...its obliviousness to reality.
ReplyDeleteReality is Manvendra's suffering and his ex-wife's broken-heart. Petty Hollywood gossip is the distraction from reality. IMO, OMG has its priorities quite well sorted out.
Tom, I love your new avatar - I finally figured out how to do one too. I also think that OMG is very aware of the realties. LOL Bad Seed, I hope you don't mind, I had to try this avatar too. :)
ReplyDeleteMethinks a reason why Russell hasn't been seen and hasn't made any movies lately has been cuz of Anger Mgmt. Nailed might be a term paper for him, an intro to the higher levels for Biel, a core course for Jake and refreshers for Morgan and Keener.
ReplyDeleteDon't mind at all netb! Jake and the Orchids are sluts, they get around. *wink*
ReplyDeleteVery clever post at 9:09, Bad Seed! ;)
ReplyDelete...refreshers for Morgan and Keener.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they have online courses on Anger Management, Bad Seed :)
Incredible is the this-place-is-turning-into-[insert name of blog he thinks we don't want to turn into] troll.
ReplyDeleteI love the avatars, but I hope everyone will use different ones. That way you will be easily recognizable.
ReplyDeleteGreat pic Tom. You chose very well.
ReplyDeletePetty Hollywood gossip is the distraction from reality. IMO.
And yet, each time I type "Tomkat sucks!" it feels so incredibly real! ;D
Methinks a reason why Russell hasn't been seen and hasn't made any movies lately has been cuz of Anger Mgmt. Nailed might be a term paper for him, an intro to the higher levels for Biel, a core course for Jake and refreshers for Morgan and Keener.
:D :D :D
Methinks Mr. Russell still has a way to go on his path to spiritual enlightenment, or maybe he took a wrong turn somewhere. ;)
Thank you Professor!
Now how do you guys think Jake will cope with Russell if the latter has flunked his anger management course? Personally, I think his attitude will be more consensual (no pun intended!). He might be a bit of a whiner on sets but I don't picture him as a confrontational person. And he's younger and is less established than Clooney and Tomlin so he might tiptoe his way around any fights. I think he should imitate Jessica and hit the gym on a regular basis, maybe pick up boxing. I heard it's a great stress reliever. ;)
I heard it's a great stress reliever. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, there are other ways of relieving stress too, Frenchy! ;)
And please, "Tomkat sucks!" is profound. Very very profound.
Well, OK, so it doesn't look like one continuous Jake-&-The Orchids pic, I changed my avatar (although I do love that Orchid one!). Night, all. ;)
ReplyDeleteI can't give up Andy. :(
ReplyDeleteDon't let these orchid sluts get you down Bltb. Your avatar is superb!
ReplyDeleteAnd please, "Tomkat sucks!" is profound. Very very profound.
Absolutely! Who needs three-hour yoga sessions to see the light when a couple of keystrokes and a nicely put exclamation point can do the work. :D
And just like Netb it has to be a wrap for me so sweet (slutty?) dreams to all of you! :)
Your right Wicked Dengue Fever is very diverse. Some of it sounds very Bollywood and some very American pop. I think you picked the best track though : )
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there was a disease of the the same name. I guess you learn something new everyday.
OT: Michelle Williams new movie Deception seems interesting.
Apparently, the made lead singer had it! Anyway, the female singer has a beautiful voice - her pitch is perfect, and I'd love to hear her sing in Khmer. I really like this song.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought Deception sounds really interesting too.
Great avatar Tom but I have some problems with it. Its too small and you can't see up Jake's shorts.
ReplyDeleteGood. : ) I'm the only one who gets to look up and down those shorts. ; )
ReplyDeleteHi Tom, like your avatar, Jake and Atticus are so cute together.
ReplyDeleteRussell scares me a bit, even though I've enjoyed his movies. It doesn't surprise me he'd be into Buddhism; besides the fact that all religions attract people of all types, I feel like I've read other examples of hotheads who've been attracted to Buddhism (Richard Gere??), I think they may be attracted to it because they think they will find peace and a way to deal with their anger.
The guy's turned into a manipulative flake and total loser. I really feel sorry for him now.
ReplyDelete'The guy' -- who?? lotta posts here talking about a lotta different guys.
ReplyDeleteRy, you're wasting your time on this blog. It's becoming another EVERYTHING JAKE DOES IS FANTASTIC blog (ala Gyllenspoon and Jake Watch). Come to WFT2.
ReplyDeleteGood. : ) I'm the only one who gets to look up and down those shorts. ; )"
ReplyDeleteAs if!! LMAO!!!! You haven't taken a peek at what's been behind those shorts in a LONG time. Not since I've entered the picture. Face it, loser. You're done. It's Reesy time!
^^another advertiser who doesn't know their target audience *rolls eyes*
ReplyDeleteand Jake hasn't been happy since reesey entered the picture either. Face it Reesey, you're the ruser AND the loser.
ReplyDeleteReesy is pathetic.
ReplyDeleteLOL.
ReplyDeleteTrollportation:
Rapid movement of a troll between blogs often causing time warp between entry, lurk, and exit.
Nice work at 9:03, rattler.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's the mystery why Jake is doing Nailed.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's the brilliant script by Kristin Gore.
Isn't Catherine Keener supposed to be Jake's original older woman?
ReplyDeleteWe have the wonderful Keanu Reeves down on our shores at the moment. In fact we have two great Canadians at the moment. KD Lang as well who sang a wonderful version of Hallelujah on a morning breakfast show. They played it again the next morning due to popular demand.
Anyway Keanu was on a talkshow last night and gave a great interview.
He just seems like such a gentle soul.
And I thought he'd be quite the fidget. But he just sat there quietly. Well until the host (Rove) asked him the question he asks everyone.
Who would you turn gay for?
Then some slight fidgeting started, a bit of colour on those gorgeous cheeks appeared.
In the end he copped out and said the host (Rove) but at least he answered the question, unlike young Zac Efron who just sat there and let Nikki Blonsky answer.
Clarity- I picked this song because the line "you only call me when you're drunk, I can tell it by your voice" cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteAG- interesting about Keanu. I've always liked him although he really can't act.
Incredible and WFT2 fan (who are the same person, obviously)- if you don't like what we do here, then don't come here. It's no biggie and there's no need to be a troll, like you're doing.
ReplyDelete