Owen Hurcum is a British politician and the first openly non-binary mayor in the world. Hurcum, 23, became the mayor of Bangor in May 2021. After being appointed to the post, they said they were “hugely humbled” to represent their community, reported The Guardian.

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“It wasn’t as much a shock or surprise to become mayor of Bangor”, said Hurcum. “But it was when they asked me to put my name forward for deputy mayor back in 2019. I wasn’t expecting that. I was very honoured that they asked me to put my candidacy forward. They didn’t put anyone up against me, so I got appointed unopposed”, reported The Guardian.

Hurcum is originally from Harrow, London and moved to Bangor in 2016. They said they did not feel safe growing up in London. “I could never be myself in London, I knew I was LGBT when I was about 12. And I desperately hid it from everyone, like my family, and my friends, and the community. I didn’t feel safe or feel comfortable being ‘out’ in London. It was only when I came to Bangor that I became comfortable in being out”, Hurcum told The Guardian.

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“Growing up, there was little or no representation of non-binary people. I knew I wasn’t transgender in terms of being a woman. I thought I was just super queer,” added Hurcum. “But I could live that from day one in Bangor. It was the people of Bangor that gave me the vocabulary, the confidence, and the support to understand my gender as non-binary”, reported The Guardian.

Bangor is one of the oldest cities in Wales.