YNOT EUROPE – Johnny Anglais, who last year left the teaching profession for a career in adult entertainment, took part in a debate last week at the venerable Oxford Union. Anglais, whose real name is Benedict Garrett, joined Oxford student Elizabeth Culliford, Nevada brother owner Dennis Hof and a representative named Emma from the English Collective of Prostitutes in putting forth the proposition “This House Would Recognise Prostitution as Legitimate Business.”

“Some see prostitution as an evil in our society,” Anglais said during his portion of the debate. “Some see it as something that simply panders to the whims and desires of a still male-dominated society. I actually see it as a helpful and important service in our society. I’ve argued publicly many times that our national attitude to sex needs to change drastically….

“A desire for sexual gratification is a human need that, although not as crucial as oxygen, food, water and perhaps even shelter, follows closely behind them and rivals such things as our need for education, loving parents, physical exercise, leisure time, an active social life, having people we call friends around us. All of which we could survive without, but with enormous difficulty, leading to serious voids in our lives….”

From 2008 to 2011, Anglais served as the head of personal, social and health education at Beal High School in Ilford. The General Teaching Council reprimanded him for unprofessional conduct after his students recognized him in an adult film. The council agreed to allow him to continue to teach if he would give up his part-time employment in adult entertainment.

Anglais declined and since then has become an activist for sex worker rights and sexual education. He now says sex work is an honorable career that should not have to be hidden. In fact, he indicated during an interview with the BBC, his previous dedication to leading a double life may have done more harm than good to his students.

“We all need to be far more open and honest — not just for our own sense of identity, but for the health and well-being of our young people,” he told the BBC.

Despite Anglais’ team’s impassioned appeal for the adoption of a more humane attitude about sex and sex workers, the opposing team — composed of Julie Bindel, author and co-founder of Justice for Women, and feminist activists Finn MacKay and Ellie Levenson — emerged victorious.