When Phil Webb was outed as gay while serving as Wimborne Minster’s mayor more than three decades ago, he never thought he would see the day that his town might celebrate Pride.
But the 67-year-old is making sure that Dorset’s 2026 Town of Culture – with a population of only 11,411 – has its own Pride celebration this summer.
“The Pride celebration means a lot to the LGBTQ+ community,” he told The Independent. “Wimborne is a growing town and all the people I have spoken to have welcomed a Pride for Wimborne, saying ‘it’s about time’ the LGBTQ+ community had recognition in the town, like bringing it into the modern world.”
Mr Webb’s mayoral election became national news in 1994 after he was outed in the Bournemouth Echo by councillors who didn’t think it was appropriate for the town to be led by a gay mayor.
“Two Wimborne town councillors called the Echo to tell us that one of their colleagues, Philip Webb, who had been nominated as mayor, was bisexual. They did not like it. They planned to put a stop to it, but they did not want to be quoted,” the paper was quoted as saying.
At the time, the News of the World reported “Mr Mayor Wants It Both Ways”. The Independent described him as “the man who brought sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” to his town.
Having details of his sexuality published in the press was not easy for Mr Webb. He had to tell his parents, who stood by his side throughout. His father wrote to the local newspaper to say that he didn’t agree with his son’s “chosen lifestyle”, but he supported his right to be mayor.
Now, he sees the funny side of it: “It was pretty hard. I mean, it was funny though… The News of the World article said ‘people came over all queer in a sleepy town in Dorset when they found their mayor was bisexual’,” he joked.
The same year he was outed, slow progress was made in LGBTQ+ rights. The UK changed the age of consent for gay and bisexual men from 21 to 18 through the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. According to Mr Webb, Wimborne Minster was still slightly behind the times – but even then it was unusual for such a fuss to be made about someone being gay.
Nevertheless, it changed his life.
“People recognised me as the gay mayor and they were 100 per cent supportive,” he said. “What I did feel was a step backwards. It was one step backwards in order to take three steps forward because they had accused me of being gay, and I said yes, I’m gay. And so that brought forward LGBTQ+ rights in Wimborne.”
Since his time as mayor, Mr Webb has gone on to have a long career working in children’s social care, though he is now retired. He met his long-time partner David in 1998 and they formed a civil partnership. They were together for 22 years until David’s death five years ago.
Town crier and councillor Chris Brown asked Mr Webb to bring Pride to Wimborne earlier this year, apparently declaring: “You’re the bloke to do it.”
It is still in the early stages of planning, but £650 has been granted to kick off a Pride movement. Mr Webb envisions a dedicated Pride event on the local green, rather than a huge march in these early days.
However, he has already arranged for the Pride movement to join in with a local event next month, while bigger plans are still in the works.
Mr Webb got in touch with Wimborne’s local folk festival (12-14 June) to see if a stall could be set up to raise awareness for the movement. The festival organisers said it would welcome the Pride movement to join in with the event’s parade itself.
“We’ll be dancing along with them and streamers and flags and stickers and music, hopefully,” he said.
The journey for Pride hasn’t been without its controversies in the small town. Two men, claiming to be from a local church, attended the small consultation meeting and suggested it might be inappropriate for sexual or gender orientations to be included in the folk festival dance parade.
“It was great because it’s so important to involve dissenters,” Mr Webb said. “They have a right to have their views put forward.
“It was so interesting how members of the group were able to politely, decently, counter their arguments.
“There was one lady there. She said, ‘I was with my son years ago in Wimborne and he’s trans, and I was walking through Wimborne and someone spat at us.’ Now, they didn’t know that sort of thing happened. They weren’t aware of the discrimination that the LGBTQ+ community.”
He added: “That is why we need a Pride still. Wimborne is a very tolerant town and always has been, and it is very cultural. There’s no place for hate in Wimborne, really, but there are still a small number of people who are anti and prepared to say so. And it’s not people like me who’s older and more resilient who are suffering. It’s the youngsters.”
Particularly concerned about trans people, Mr Webb hopes that by bringing Pride to his town, the LGBTQ+ community can come together and be accepted.
“I hope that the LGBTQ+ community can be out there, be visible, and that people will accept them for what they are and stop discriminating against people for something that they really can’t help.”
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