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BANGOR, Gwynedd, Wales, May 24, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – City councilors in the Welsh city of Bangor have appointed a “genderqueer,” “agender,” “non-binary” 23-year-old named Owen J. Hurcum to be mayor.

Hurcum, who appears to be a biological male and goes by “they,” is apparently the first “non-binary” mayor in the world.

BBC reported that Hurcum identifies as “genderqueer” or “agender” and is also the youngest mayor in Wales. He has served as a councilor for five years and a deputy mayor for one year.

He was unanimously elected by his fellow councilors last June, but has only just been appointed after a delay due to COVID-19 regulations and restrictions. The council “welcomed Cllr Hurcum to their [sic] new role,” the Bangor government website reported on May 11, 2021.

“When I came out two years ago,” he tweeted, “I was so worried I'd be ostracized by my community or worse. Today my community elected me Mayor of our great City. The youngest ever Mayor in Wales. The first ever openly Non-Binary Mayor of any city anywhere.”

“There was a trepidation because, obviously, local government has this unfair reputation of possibly being old and backwards,” he said, “and I was worried that those views may come from fellow councillors.”

“But I have had the exact opposite. Every single councillor has been extremely supportive, and the previous mayor has called me when he has seen that I have been getting hate online, and he has said he is there if I need him,” Hurcum continued. “It has been really nice.”

In March, Hurcum resigned from the Plaid Cymru party after claiming that the party “continues to platform those who promote transphobia.”

This came after party member Helen Mary Jones tweeted her opposition to changes to the Gender Recognition Act. According to BBC, in a tweet, she said that she was “concerned, like many people including trans people, about the possible impacts of the proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act and the rights of women and girls.”

“Gender critical feminists are not attacking trans people,” she wrote in a previous tweet. “We are asking questions.”

“I want Helen Mary Jones to apologise in a way that is not ‘I'm sorry you're offended’,” Hurcum demanded.

“I want a sincere apology and I want her to make an effort to learn about the community and understand why she's perpetrating transphobia.”

In 2022, a small Welsh publisher is publishing a book Hurcum has written titled Don’t Ask About My Genitals. It’s “an introductory manifesto for our fight for equality that is [accessible] to all,” according to Hurcum.

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