Leo Abse

Leo Abse (Leopold Abse, 1917–2008) was a Welsh lawyer, Labour politician and gay rights campaigner.

He was born in Cardiff and studied at the London School of Economics. He became a solicitor and served on Cardiff City Council. He was Labour MP for Pontypool from 1958 to 1983, and for Torfaen from 1983 to 1987. In 1963 he introduced a private members bill that simplified the divorce law.

In 1962 he began pushing for a bill to implement the provisions of the Wolfenden Report and this eventually bore fruit as the Sexual Offences Act 1967.

He wrote a number of books, including Fellatio, Masochism, Politics and Love (Robson Books, London, 1997) and The bi-sexuality of Daniel Defoe: a psychoanalytic survey of the man and his works (Karnac Books, London, 2006).