Kent bisexual councillor says he will step down following homophobia investigation

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

A bisexual councillor for the Kent district of Thanet has announced that he will be stepping down at the next election, citing “heterocentric” behaviour from fellow councillors as his reason for doing so.

KentOnline reports John Worrow, an independent councillor for Birchington South, found himself under investigation this month for an incident in which he called several of his fellow councillors “homophobes” at a District Council meeting in July last year.

It was after Mr Worrow had received an abusive voicemail message from Conservative Councillor Ken Gregory, who told him “with a bit of luck, you’ll get aids.”

Mr Worrow said he had written to Kent’s Police Commissioner to question why he should be under investigation.

He said: “Minority groups will always have to deal with intolerant councillors, and as a police investigation found that I was the victim of a homophobic incident, it should not have needed a separate council investigation to see why I used that word.”

He announced that he would continue to act as councillor until the next election in 2015, but did not want to continue working with the “heterocentric attitude of intolerant Conservatives.”

Mr Worrow said: “While this was a tough decision, I’ve realised that the current system is incompatible with the modern way of thinking.”

Thanet Council was the second council in England to vote in favour of the government’s equal marriage proposals in April 2012.

Comments (0)

MyPinkNews members are invited to comment on articles to discuss the content we publish, or debate issues more generally. Please familiarise yourself with our community guidelines to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive space for all.

Loading Comments