A doctor’s journey to love and acceptance

Vikas Satyananda once kept his love life secret. That’s because, until recently, a gay man in India could be imprisoned.

When he immigrated to the United States, not only did he find acceptance but he found his true love within days.

Satyananda and others in the LGBTQ community in India were forced to keep their love lives hidden from the public eye because of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The law stated that voluntary homosexual acts are punishable by law.

In September 2018, in a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of India reversed Section 377, which decriminalized gay sex.

Satyananda is thrilled with the Supreme Court’s ruling, but said when he was back in India, he wasn’t sure the law would ever change during his lifetime. That’s why he decided to leave.

Satyananda said he dreamed of not having any social constraints or stigma and he dreamed of not being literally ostracized for being “who I am and what I am. And that was the main reason why I left India and came to the United States.”

Before permanently moving to the United States, Satyananda boarded a plane to the East Coast to attend interviews for a fellowship. He met some nice people on the trip, including a man named Keith McDowell.

But Satyananda didn’t know if he’d ever see him again. Months passed before he found out he was accepted into a fellowship and would be moving to Pittsburgh.

Finally, he found out he got it and would move to Pittsburg soon. Thrilled, he reached out to people he had met during the trip including McDowell.

It was then that McDowell told Satyananda he had relocated to the “Steel City” to be closer to his family.  The pair went on their first date on Satyanda’s second day in Pittsburgh.  This was the beginning of a relationship that would change both of their lives.

“It was just magical. Our connection was instant and we bonded so well, so fast,” Satyananda said. The couple married about five years ago.

In addition to finding love, Satyananda also found friends and a supportive network through work and the LBGTQ community.

“I am out to all my all my peers, all my colleagues, all my juniors, everybody knows my husband Keith and it’s not actually an issue in any way,” he said.

But moving to the United States to live his life as an openly gay man did not come without major sacrifice.

Despite Satyananda’s three years of medical school in India, when he decided to immigrate to the U.S., he learned he would have to redo all of his medical training.

“My training in India would not apply here…because for me to be a surgeon in the United States I need to be board certified by the American Board of Surgery,” Satyananda said.