Jeffrey Dudgeon

Jeffrey Dudgeon, was born in Belfast in 1946 and educated at local primary schools, Campbell College, Magee University College, and Trinity College, Dublin. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was an active member of the Campaign for Labour Representation, and later the Campaign for Equal Citizenship. In 1975, he co-founded the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association (NIGRA), and in 1981 was the winning plaintiff at the European Court of Human Rights in a seven-year suit against the British Government....See more

Jeffrey Dudgeon, was born in Belfast in 1946 and educated at local primary schools, Campbell College, Magee University College, and Trinity College, Dublin. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was an active member of the Campaign for Labour Representation, and later the Campaign for Equal Citizenship. In 1975, he co-founded the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association (NIGRA), and in 1981 was the winning plaintiff at the European Court of Human Rights in a seven-year suit against the British Government. This resulted in the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in Northern Ireland in 1982. It was the first successful gay case at Strasbourg and has been a precedent throughout the world, including the Supreme Court of the United States. He continues to work with NIGRA on legal and police issues. After a stint in shipping at Belfast docks, he was a civil servant for many years, working mostly in pensions. From 1995-8, he was parliamentary adviser and constituency office manager for the UK Unionist MP for North Down, Robert McCartney. For the following two years, he was engaged, full time, in researching his book Roger Casement: The Black Diaries, returning in 2000 to the Department of Health at Stormont to deal with health protection issues, including antimicrobial resistance, healthcare-associated infection, and screening. One-time honorary secretary of the Irish Association's northern branch, he stood as a liberal unionist for a Trinity College seat in the Irish Senate in 2011. Jeffrey Dudgeon was awarded an MBE in the 2012 New Year's Honours List for services to the LGBT community, and, in 2013, was one of the two Ulster Unionist Party representatives at the Haass Talks on Flags, Parading and the Past. In 2014, he was elected to Belfast City Council as a UUP Councillor for the Balmoral area, and chairs the Council's Diversity Working Group. He is also a member of the City Growth and Development, and Licensing Committees. In Council, he is majoring on achieving the erection of a Belfast Blitz Memorial in the City Hall grounds to commemorate the more than 1,000 victims of the two terrible air raids of April and May 1941. The author continues to discuss, write and speak on issues relating to Roger Casement and his global significance, particularly so in this Decade of Centenaries, the high point of which is 2016, because of both the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme. The author's email address for contact or comment is: jeffreydudgeon@hotmail.com. See less