Owen Hurcum

Owen Exie Hurcum
Portrait of Owen Exie Hurcum taken on International Non-Binary People's Day 2021
Mayor of Bangor
In office
May 2021 – May 2022[1]
Preceded byJohn Wyn Williams
Succeeded byGwynant Roberts[1]
Personal details
Born1997 or 1998 (age 26–27)[2]
Harrow, London, England
Political partyGreen Party (2024–present)[3]
Other political
affiliations		Breakthrough Party (2022–2023)[4] Independent (2021–2022)
Plaid Cymru (until 2021)
Alma materBangor University

Owen Exie J. Hurcum[5] (born Owen J. Hurcum, 1997) is a former British politician. They are the former Mayor of the city of Bangor, Wales, and former ward councillor for Glyder ward on Bangor City Council. In May 2021, they became 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.[6][7] In May 2022 they completed their term as mayor and did not seek re-election to the community council.[8]

Career

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Originally from the London suburb of Harrow, Hurcum studied at Whitmore High School during which time they won the 2013 Harrow Regional Final of Jack Petchey's Speak Out Challenge.[9] Hurcum moved to Bangor in 2015 to attend Bangor University[10] to study Archaeology, graduating with a First in 2019.[11] They continued their postgraduate studies at Bangor, studying an MA in Celtic Archaeology, graduating from the University in December 2022 with a Distinction.[12]

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.[13][14] 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.[15]

Hurcum was appointed unopposed as deputy mayor in 2019.[2] 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.[16]

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.[17][18]

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.[19] On 14 November 2021 Hurcum laid a Remembrance Day 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.[20]

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.[21]

Political positions

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Hurcum supports Welsh independence, but has been hugely critical of transphobia 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."[22] They opposed the renaming of the Second Severn Crossing to the Prince of Wales Bridge in 2018.[23]

Hurcum has also spoken in favour of, and campaigned for, 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.[24]

They have opposed increases of post-secondary tuition fees by the Welsh Labour Senedd government.[25]

On 27 January 2022 Hurcum announced that they had joined the Breakthrough Party.[18] They have since joined the Green Party.[26]

Personal life

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Hurcum is genderqueer and agender, with they/them pronouns.[27] Hurcum has said "I know I'm not a bloke, but I know I'm not a trans woman either".[10] They are pansexual.[28]

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.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bangor City Council Latest News". Bangor City Council.
  2. ^ a b Storer, Rhi (13 June 2021). "Introducing 'their worship', the world's first non-binary mayor". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  3. ^ "I firmly believe the Green Party is the only hope". Twitter.
  4. ^ "Owen Hurcum Joins Breakthrough". Twitter.
  5. ^ @owenjhurcum (8 April 2023). "So I've decided to give myself a second first name; Exie. It's a name I've used on and off for a while and I want to more formally include it in my name. But I won't be losing Owen. I still like and use that name. So I'll be Owen Exie J Hurcum, and either name is fine to use..." (Tweet). Retrieved 30 May 2024 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "LGBT: Wales' first non-binary mayor 'used to abuse'". BBC News. 12 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Welsh city votes in 'worlds first non-binary mayor'". Metro News. 12 May 2021.
  8. ^ "IWorld's first non-binary mayor Owen J Hurcum to step down to build home on boat". ITV News. 11 March 2022.
  9. ^ Innes, Emma (11 December 2012). "Student wins public speaking competition". Harrow Times.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Owen Graduates from Bangor University". Twitter.
  12. ^ "Owen MA graduation from Bangor University". Twitter.
  13. ^ "Student Protest Against Bangor University Cuts Organised For January 2019". 16 December 2018.
  14. ^ "INTERVIEW: Student Protest Organisers, Owen J Hurcum & Kayleigh Lavornia – "A lot is riding on this."". 15 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Big turnout for Bangor 'Stand up for Democracy' Protest". 2 September 2019.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "Plaid Cymru regional candidate steps down over Helen Mary Jones 'promotion of transphobia'". Nation Cymru. 3 March 2021.
  18. ^ a b "World's First Openly Non-Binary Mayor joins Breakthrough Party". Breakthrough Party. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  19. ^ Elvin, Sian (12 May 2021). "Welsh city votes in 'world's first non-binary mayor'". Metro.
  20. ^ a b "IWorld's first non-binary mayor Owen J Hurcum to step down to build home on boat". ITV News. 11 March 2022.
  21. ^ Chandler, Matthew (5 May 2022). "Outgoing Bangor mayor to release book on trans and non-binary equality". North Wales Chronicle. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  22. ^ Hurcum, Owen (20 March 2021). "Owen Hurcum calls for equality in Welsh independence movement". The National.
  23. ^ "Plaid Ifanc condemn 'Prince of Wales' renaming at Bangor Conference". 15 April 2018.
  24. ^ Bryan, Nicola (14 February 2021). "Census 2021: England and Wales gender question 'a good first step'". BBC News.
  25. ^ "Hike in tuition fees - Bangor student responds". Plaid Cymru Arfon. 21 July 2017.
  26. ^ Hurcum, Owen (4 October 2024). "Owen Exie J Hurcum 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏳️‍⚧️🍉 on X: "I firmly beleive @TheGreenParty is the only hope we have at the ballot box ..." Twitter.
  27. ^ "First non-binary mayor 'of any city, anywhere' wins landslide election aged 22". PinkNews. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  28. ^ Kuhr, Elizabeth (2 June 2021). "World's 1st nonbinary mayor wants to use Pride Month as a 'platform to force change'". NBC News.
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