University head tells colleagues ... ‘I’m bisexual’
THE VICE CHANCELLOR at a top Welsh university has come out as bisexual in an email to colleagues.
Professor Colin Riordan, the £288,00-a-year head of Cardiff University, said it was “important he spoke out” about his sexuality to help stop bisexual people feeling “invisible”.
Father-of-two Prof Riordan, 58, circulated the email memo around the university - with his announcement said to have surprised some of its 7,000 staff members.
Prof Riordan believes he is the first vice chancellor to be openly bisexual and said he made the decision to come out after realising he had missed his university’s “Bi-Visibility Day” in September.
He said: “Once I had realised I’d missed the bi-visibility day, I felt it important to say I was encouraged by it and supported it.
“I wanted to show it was a good thing, to help stop making bisexual people feel invisible.
“I never deliberately kept it a secret but I never felt the need to mention it either.
“Obviously, anyone I was in a relationship with knew the situation, but there was no real reason for colleagues to know.”
Prof Riordan was first appointed to his post at Cardiff in 2012 after leaving his role as vice chancellor of the University of Essex.
He said he felt like a “fraud” after being described as a “straight friend” of Cardiff University’s LGBT network upon his arrival.
He said: “I felt fraudulent and uncomfortable that people presumed I was straight. Speaking out allowed me to correct the false impression.”
Prof Riordan said he felt the bisexual community still faced problems, and said his big reveal had “not been easy”.
He said: “Making the decision to send the email to all those thousands of people was quite worrying and stressful. Although this is not a big thing for me, I knew it would be seen as a big thing by others.
“It feels quite exposing, and I knew some people might react badly. (But) already I feel more myself and that a weight has been lifted. I am now being truly honest with those around me, and there is a certain freedom in that.”
Prof Riordan has two grown-up daughters from a former marriage.
He added: “Only a few vice chancellors have spoken out about being gay or lesbian and none about being bi, as far as I’m aware. People have said that I am brave for telling the truth, but I don’t feel it.”
Cardiff, part of the Russell Group of Britain’s leading 24 universities, is rated as the highest placed gayfriendly university by equality campaign group Stonewall.