Owen Hurcum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Their Worship, The Mayor of Bangor
Owen Hurcum
OwenPortrait.jpg
Portrait of Mayor Owen J Hurcum taken on International Non-Binary People's Day 2021
Mayor of Bangor
Assumed office
May 2021
Preceded byJohn Wyn Williams
Personal details
Born1997/1998 (age 23–24)[1]
Harrow, London, England
Political partyBreakthrough Party (January 2022 - Present) [2]
Other political
affiliations		 Independent (March 2021 - January 2022)
Plaid Cymru (before March 2021)
Alma materBangor University

Owen J. Hurcum (born 1997-1998) is a British politician active in the city of Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, as a Bangor City councillor for the Glyder ward. Since May 2021, they have been the Mayor of Bangor, the first openly non-binary mayor of any city world-wide and the youngest person in history to hold a mayoral position in Wales.[3][4]

Career[]

Originally from the London suburb of Harrow, Hurcum moved to Bangor in 2015 to attend Bangor University.[5] They won the 2013 Harrow Regional Final of Jack Petchey's Speak Out Challenge.[6]

In January 2019, Hurcum co-organised a protest against proposed cuts at Bangor University which would have seen up to 60 staff members at risk of losing their jobs and the closure of the university's Department of Chemistry.[7][8] In September 2019, they organised a protest on Bangor High Street against Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament ahead of the Brexit withdrawal treaty deadline. The prorogation was later found to be unlawful.[9]

Hurcum was appointed unopposed as deputy mayor in 2019.[1]

Hurcum was due to run as a Plaid Cymru candidate in the 2021 Senedd election, being fourth on Plaid's regional list for North Wales, which would have made them Plaid's first ever openly non-binary candidate. However, on 3 March 2021, they withdrew from the election and resigned from the party, citing transphobia. They continued to sit on Bangor Council as an independent, until January 2022 when they announced they had joined The Breakthrough Party.[10][11] Later that month, Hurcum was the target of online abuse by the Springwood Primary School in Cardiff after they stated that "You are Welsh if you feel Welsh, being born abroad has nothing to do with that." The school then claimed an individual had gained unauthorised access to their Twitter account and pledged to launch an investigation.[12]

In May 2021, councillors elected Hurcum to the position of Mayor of Bangor City Council for the 2021–22 term, with Plaid Cymru's Gwynant Roberts taking the deputy mayor position.[13] On 14 November 2021 Hurcum laid a Remembrance Day wreath at Bangor Cathedral on behalf of the people of the City.

Political positions[]

Hurcum supports Welsh independence. They have spoken out against transphobia in the independence movement, including abuse they have personally faced, and have stated that an independent Wales "should be one build on equality and acceptance."[14] They opposed the renaming of the Severn Bridge to the Prince of Wales Bridge in 2018.[15]

Hurcum has spoken in favour of transgender rights in the United Kingdom as a whole, including for improved access to trans healthcare in the NHS, amending the Equality Act 2010 to explicitly include non-binary people, and introducing third gender options for passports and other identity documents.[16]

They have opposed increases of post-secondary tuition fees by the Welsh Labour Senedd government.[17]

On 27 January 2022 Hurcum announced that they had joined the Breakthrough Party.[18]

Personal life[]

Hurcum is genderqueer and agender, with they/them pronouns.[19] Hurcum has said "I know I'm not a bloke, but I know I'm not a trans woman either".[5] They are pansexual.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Storer, Rhi (13 June 2021). "Introducing 'their worship', the world's first non-binary mayor". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Owen Hurcum Joins Breakthrough". Twitter.
  3. ^ "LGBT: Wales' first non-binary mayor 'used to abuse'". BBC News. 12 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Welsh city votes in 'worlds first non-binary mayor'". Metro News. 12 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b Jones, Branwen (28 March 2020). "City's youngest mayor promises 'fresh ideas' - here's what they've got planned". North Wales Live. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  6. ^ Innes, Emma (11 December 2012). "Student wins public speaking competition". Harrow Times.
  7. ^ "Student Protest Against Bangor University Cuts Organised For January 2019". 16 December 2018.
  8. ^ "INTERVIEW: Student Protest Organisers, Owen J Hurcum & Kayleigh Lavornia – "A lot is riding on this."". 15 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Big turnout for Bangor 'Stand up for Democracy' Protest". 2 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Plaid Cymru regional candidate steps down over Helen Mary Jones 'promotion of transphobia'". Nation Cymru. 3 March 2021.
  11. ^ "World's First Openly Non-Binary Mayor joins Breakthrough Party". Breakthrough Party. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  12. ^ Lennox, Aaraan (26 March 2021). "Investigation as North Wales councillor told to 'f**k off c**t' by primary school Twitter account". North Wales Live.
  13. ^ Elvin, Sian (12 May 2021). "Welsh city votes in 'world's first non-binary mayor'". Metro.
  14. ^ Hurcum, Owen (20 March 2021). "Owen Hurcum calls for equality in Welsh independence movement". The National.
  15. ^ "Plaid Ifanc condemn 'Prince of Wales' renaming at Bangor Conference". 15 April 2018.
  16. ^ Bryan, Nicola (14 February 2021). "Census 2021: England and Wales gender question 'a good first step'". BBC News.
  17. ^ "Hike in tuition fees - Bangor student responds". Plaid Cymru Arfon. 21 July 2017.
  18. ^ "World's First Openly Non-Binary Mayor joins Breakthrough Party". Breakthrough Party. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  19. ^ "First non-binary mayor 'of any city, anywhere' wins landslide election aged 22". PinkNews. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  20. ^ Kuhr, Elizabeth (2 June 2021). "World's 1st nonbinary mayor wants to use Pride Month as a 'platform to force change'". NBC News.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""