Between Worlds: A Queer Boy from the Valleys

A man's own story from the Rhondda.

Jeffrey Weeks was born in the Rhondda in 1945, of

mining stock. As he grew-up he increasingly felt an

outsider in the intensely community minded valleys, a

feeling intensified as he became aware of his gayness.

Escape came through education. He left for London, to

university, and to realise his sexuality. From the early

1970s he was actively involved in the new gay liberation

movement and became its pioneering historian. This

was the beginning of a long career as a researcher

and writer on sexuality, with widespread national and

international recognition. He has been described as

the 'most significant British intellectual working on

sexuality to emerge from the radical sexual movements

of the 1970s'.

His seminal book, Coming Out, a history of LGBT

movements and identities since the 19th century, has

been in print for forty years. He was awarded the OBE in

the Queen's Jubilee Honours in 2012 for his contribution

to the social sciences.