Owen J. Hurcum (born 1997) is a British politician. They are the former Mayor of the city of Bangor,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and former ward councillor for Glyder ward on

Bangor City Council Bangor City Council or officially the City of Bangor Council is an elected community council serving Bangor in Gwynedd, Wales. Background Bangor's council was created in 1883 by royal charter. In 1974 it became City of Bangor Council, after B ...

. In May 2021, they became the Mayor of Bangor, the first openly

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

mayor of any city world-wide and the youngest person in history to hold a mayoral position in Wales. In May 2022 they completed their term as mayor and did not seek re-election to the

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

Career

Originally from the London suburb of Harrow, Hurcum studied at

Whitmore High School Whitmore High School is a state secondary school in the London Borough of Harrow. The school's students are mostly drawn from the wider Harrow area. In March 2015, the school was judged "Outstanding" by Ofsted for the second time. History Wh ...

during which time they won the 2013 Harrow Regional Final of

Jack Petchey Sir Jack Petchey (born 19 July 1925) is an English businessman and philanthropist. Early life He was born on 19 July 1925 in Plaistow, Essex. He came from a working-class family and was brought up in the East End of London, leaving school aged ...

's Speak Out Challenge. Hurcum moved to Bangor in 2015 to attend Bangor University to study Archaeology, graduating with a First in 2019. They continued their postgraduate studies at Bangor, studying an MA in Celtic Archaeology, graduating from the University in December 2022 with a Distinction. 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. 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. Hurcum was appointed unopposed as deputy mayor in 2019. During this time, Hurcum was the target of abuse from the Twitter account of a 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 claimed an individual had gained unauthorised access to their Twitter account and pledged to launch an investigation. Hurcum was due to run as a

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

candidate in the

2021 Senedd election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

, being fourth on Plaid's regional list for

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

, 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 Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...

. They continued to sit on Bangor Council as an independent, until January 2022 when they announced they had joined the Breakthrough Party. In May 2021, councillors elected Hurcum to the position of Mayor of

for the 2021–22 term, with Plaid Cymru's Gwynant Roberts taking the deputy mayor position. On 14 November 2021 Hurcum laid a

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

wreath at Bangor Cathedral on behalf of the people of the City. Hurcum completed this term as Mayor in May 2022 and did not seek re-election to the City Council due to their plan to move to England for at least a year to renovate a boat. Hurcum's debut book entitled ''Don't Ask About my Genitals : An Introductory Manifesto to Trans and Non-Binary Equality'' was published in May 2022.

Political positions

Hurcum supports

Welsh independence Welsh independence ( cy, Annibyniaeth i Gymru) is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. Wales was conquered during the 13th century by Edward I of England following the ki ...

, but has been hugely critical of

in the independence movement, including abuse they have personally faced, and have stated that an independent Wales "should be one built on equality and acceptance." They opposed the renaming of the

Second Severn Crossing or cy, Pont Tywysog Cymru, label=none, italic=unset , carries = M4 motorway (6 lanes) , crosses = River Severn , locale = South West England / South East Wales , maint = National Highways , architect ...

to the Prince of Wales Bridge in 2018. Hurcum has also spoken in favour of, and campaigned for,

transgender rights in the United Kingdom Transgender rights in the United Kingdom have varied significantly over time, with the British transgender community facing ongoing challenges not experienced by cisgender Britons. These include various laws and public attitudes in regards to ide ...

as a whole, including for improved access to trans healthcare in the NHS, amending the

Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-d ...

to explicitly include non-binary people, and introducing third gender options for passports and other identity documents. They have opposed increases of post-secondary tuition fees by the Welsh Labour Senedd government. On 27 January 2022 Hurcum announced that they had joined the Breakthrough Party.

Personal life

Hurcum is genderqueer and

agender Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

, with they/them pronouns. Hurcum has said "I know I'm not a bloke, but I know I'm not a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...

either". They are

pansexual Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their ...

. In March 2022 Hurcum said they would be moving back to England to renovate a 1940s houseboat, citing property prices as a reason. The intention was to return to Bangor with the boat after the renovation had been completed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurcum, Owen Living people 1997 births 21st-century Welsh politicians Alumni of Bangor University Councillors in Wales Independent politicians in Wales LGBT mayors of places in the United Kingdom Welsh LGBT politicians Welsh non-binary people Mayors of places in Wales People from Bangor, Gwynedd People from Harrow, London Politicians from London Welsh independence activists Non-binary politicians Pansexual non-binary people Plaid Cymru councillors Plaid Cymru mayors Agender people