Jeff Dudgeon
| Jeff Dudgeon MBE | |
|---|---|
| Member of Belfast City Council | |
|
Assumed office 22 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | New DEA |
| Constituency | Balmoral |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Residence | Windsor, Belfast |
| Alma mater |
Magee University College Trinity College, Dublin |
| Profession | Historian |
| Religion | Anglican |
Jeffrey Edward Anthony "Jeff" Dudgeon MBE is a Northern Irish politician, historian and gay political activist. He currently sits as a Ulster Unionist Party councillor for the Balmoral area of Belfast City Council.[1][2]
He is best known for bringing a case to the European Court of Human Rights which successfully challenged Northern Ireland's laws criminalising consensual sexual acts between men in private. He is one of three openly gay politicians elected to the City Council along with Mary Ellen Campbell of Sinn Féin and Julie-Anne Corr of the Progressive Unionist Party.[3] He has also published a study of Roger Casement's "Black Diaries", which accepted them as genuine.
In 1979 he stood as a Labour Integrationist candidate for Belfast South in the 1979 General election.
Personal life
He is originally from east Belfast and attended Campbell College then Magee University College and Trinity College, Dublin. He has a long term partner.
Honours
As part of the 2012 New Year Honours, Dudgeon was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "services to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community in Northern Ireland".[4]
References
- ↑ "Belfast City Council results". UTV. 17 May 2014.
- ↑ "Gay rights campaigner defends Ulster Unionist membership". The Guardian. 4 June 2013.
- ↑ "Three openly gay politicians on newly elected Belfast City Council". Belfast Telegraph. 26 May 2014.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60009. pp. 13–15. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-02.