THE UK HAS TO GET OVER ITS PRUDISHNESS ABOUT SEX

After being suspended, I was given the chance to challenge the idea that being a stripper is incompatible with being a teacher.

Yesterday, I was informed by the General Teaching Council this week that I would be permitted to return to teaching, a pleasant surprise after the increasing controversy about my persona: in July 2010, I was suspended from the school where I used to work as head of personal, social and health education, after the authorities discovered that I also earned money for stripping in clubs and acting in porn films.

While I disagree with any sanction being imposed, I am content and satisfied that it is a fair decision under the circumstances. I believe the GTC's decision is a recognition of the strength of the arguments that I raised to challenge the view that activities in adult entertainment might "undermine public trust and confidence" in people working in the teaching profession.

My defence hinged on a number of factors: some disputable, some indisputable. First: is the impact of pornography on our society really as damaging as some want us to believe? Had I not been raised by two open-minded parents and worked in sex education and the sex industry, I might have shared the view of those who associate porn with social ills: paedophilia, rape, sex slavery, abuse, HIV, teen sex, the degradation of women. But I don't think we should accept a view just because it is held by a large number of people.

There is no evidence to prove pornography has either a negative or, for that matter, a positive effect on society. There are scraps of research, but no proof at all.

Millions of men and women legally purchase, view and enjoy pornography as a form of entertainment every day. The vast majority of these people are decent, law-abiding individuals.

Pornography, in its simplest form (and I accept that there are unsavoury parts of the industry, including the exploitation of women and men – but then there are unsavoury aspects in most industries) is about the depiction of a legally consenting adult having sex with another legally consenting adult (or more, why should numbers matter?). What, in essence, is wrong with that process?

Anyone under the age of 18 viewing pornography in the UK is doing so illegally. I would not condone them doing so. However, I do not see that viewing sexual intercourse, or witnessing nudity, poses any threat or danger to that child. If anything, exposure to the realities of sex and nudity and living in a society where we are happy to discuss such issues openly makes for a safer and healthier environment for young people.

Sex and pornography are shrouded in a veil of mystery in Britain. If young people have access to the same levels of online pornography as our European counterparts (which they do), why do we have the highest rate of teenage pregnancy and the highest rates of STIs in Europe? My view is that it's not because of exposure to depictions of sex, but because we are not open enough, particularly compared with our Dutch, Scandinavian and German neighbours. When we refuse to talk about something in public young people are more inclined to experiment in private, and to do so without the adequate tools to make informed choices. Telling young people that sex is always "bad", "wrong" and "immoral" is simply not an adequate response.

Our society is faced with hypocrisies and inconsistencies, the riots up and down our great land only served to demonstrate this – we didn't need the recent riots and the subsequent punishments to be reminded of that. But my case also shows that some people wish to take a hardline approach on an activity that poses no proven threat to society whatsoever. While a teacher working in the sex industry must be banned, teachers who publicly indulge in activities that are linked to thousands of deaths each and every year – such as smoking, drinking and overeating – are tolerated.

Prior to the ban being imposed in 2007 I worked in a school where smoking was sanctioned by the provision of a smoking room. How many deaths are associated with tobacco? I have worked in a school that provided alcohol at events attended by parents and students. How much misery is linked to alcohol? I have worked with a member of the Catholic clergy who provided lessons on contraception during the week and told his congregation that contraception was wrong and evil at the weekend. How many deaths of Aids sufferers around the world can be laid at the hands of the Catholic faith?

When it comes to porn and our society we desperately need to start putting things into perspective. Porn is going nowhere – we had better learn to deal with it in a grownup way. And young people aren't machines that we can indoctrinate with our irrational fears and prejudices. They are too clever for that.

By: Johnny Anglais
Johnny Anglais is an actor, singer, stripper, adult entertainer and public speaker and media whore. His website is johnnyanglaisofficial.com