Jeff Dudgeon
Jeffrey Edward Anthony "Jeff" Dudgeon MBE is a Northern Irish politician, historian and gay political activist. He previously sat as an Ulster Unionist Party councillor for the Balmoral area of Belfast City Council from 2014 - 2019.[1][2][3]
Jeffrey Dudgeon MBE | |
---|---|
Member of Belfast City Council | |
In office 22 May 2014 – 6 May 2019 | |
Preceded by | New DEA |
Succeeded by | Sarah Bunting |
Constituency | Balmoral |
Personal details | |
Born | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Ulster Unionist Party 2011-Present and UK Unionist Party 1997. |
Residence | Windsor, Belfast |
Alma mater | Magee University College Trinity College, Dublin |
Profession | Historian |
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. During the 2014-19 council term he was 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, at the 2019 local government election all three lost their seats.[4] 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[5] 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".[6]
References
- "Belfast City Council results". UTV. 17 May 2014.
- "Gay rights campaigner defends Ulster Unionist membership". The Guardian. 4 June 2013.
- "Belfast City Council results". Belfast Telegraph. 6 May 2019.
- "Three openly gay politicians on newly elected Belfast City Council". Belfast Telegraph. 26 May 2014.
- "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. pp. 13–15.