Karl Love is a councillor for East Cowes, and is one of the first openly gay local councillors on the Isle f Wight. Originally from Yorkshire, Love moved to the Island with his partner in 1992 when he became one of the Isle of Wight’s first Gay Men’s Sexual Health Workers. Love was involved in HIV prevention work, aiming to increase the numbers of people being tested. He distributed condoms as Captain Condom out on the streets at events like Cowes Week Sailing Regatta and he visited secondary schools to give talks on sexual health. In 1994, he organised the Island’s first LGBTQ+ picnic, the inaugural Pink Picnic.
Love left the Island in 1998, returning to live here in 12 years later in 2010. Love set up the Isle of Wight Gay Men’s Chorus, another first for the Island. In 2017, he was elected councillor of East Cowes’ electoral ward as a member of the Independent Party. He remains a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights on the Island.
A StoneCrabs Theatre Company Project
