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A certified sex educator and adult creator has slammed the government’s ban of online porn showing choking. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star, influencer Max Hovey candidly opened up about the government’s educational failure and its repercussions on porn and closeted gay men. Max Hovey , a 26-year-old sex educator from Kent who specialises in men who have sex with men (MSM) , regularly takes to his popular Instagram page to share unfiltered and honest content about topics that many would consider taboo. On social media, Max’s 207,000 followers can learn everything from safe practices and body image issues, to gonorrhoea vaccines and transgender rights. But his latest rant on social media sheds light on an issue that not only affects the MSM community, but every porn consumer across the nation. On Monday (November 3) the Government announced that it would press ahead with new amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, including a ban on depictions of strangulation or suffocation in pornography and new duties for online platforms to block such content. While the Ministry of Justice first announced plans for the ban back in June as part of efforts to “protect women from violence”, the latest move marks a significant step forward as the proposals are set to return to the House of Lords for further scrutiny this month. According to Max, the move will prompt more harm than benefits. “The issue is that that's not going to stop young people wanting to do it,” Max said. “They already have that idea in their heads, and I'm not saying that porn should be a free-for-all, but the issue is that there is no education around how to navigate kinks or sexual feelings that you may not feel are normal.” Max continued: “How to navigate [kinks] safely and how to understand it's not something to be ashamed of. If someone is not adequately taught about something they are more likely to do it dangerously.” Whether choking is a safe practice during intercourse or not is entirely up to what is agreed upon between the parties involved, according to the sex educator. He said: “I think fundamentally it comes down to consent and the biggest risk and where it becomes dangerous is when people aren't learning how to do things in a way that is safe, like if you're not talking about things properly, it's more likely to go wrong.” As for safety concerns regarding pornography, Max reflected: “Porn can be incredibly detrimental. That's something that is kind of undeniable. “It's not something that anyone can argue against. It does have its harms, but it very much needs to coincide with sex education. “Porn isn't going anywhere. It literally isn't. We've had these new legislations come in saying you need age verification. I can still comfortably access most websites without age verification. “Porn can be damaging in terms of representation in the fact that it is showing a polished version of sex. [...] People will watch it and not understand that it's not reality. They won't understand that in professional pornography, there is a director there telling them what to do. Things are edited out. “You won't see them put the condom on. Maybe they won't use one. You won't see them apply lube. You won't see them, talk about consent or ask is it okay if I do this? “Is this something you like? You don't see any of that. “[It] becomes a problem because sex education isn't adequately saying these things aren't reality. You're allowed to enjoy them, but you also need to understand that there are other things that go with it.” Max slammed putting the entire blame for dangerous sexual behaviour onto pornography, as he compared: “It's the equivalent of gun violence in the USA being blamed wholeheartedly on GTA 5.” He added: “That's not the reality. You have legalised guns, they don't get that it needs to coincide with other things.” For Max, failures in the educational system not only fuels dangerous sexual practices, but also discrimination, with a lack of representation often leading to LGBTQIA+ people resorting to hiding their identity, sometimes at the detriment of their partners. Moreover, Max emphasises that this type of stigmatisation also sparks harmful ideologies, such as the belief that children can be indoctrinated into “becoming gay” if they are “exposed” to queer representation. “Queer people have always existed,” Max argued. “We've always been here.” He further exclaimed: “When we've been living under [LGBTQIA+ criminalisation], you can go to prison for being gay, when there's been zero queer representation in the media, when we have been forcefed this picket fence, a white mom and dad with their three blonde kids living this perfect life, people have still turned out gay. And also the amount of guys that wouldn't admit that they are secretly [having sex with] men behind the scenes, the amount of DL guys is crazy. “And that's born out of internalised homophobia.” “DL" is short for "down low", a slang term that primarily refers to men who identify as heterosexual but secretly engage in same-sex sexual activity. Max said: “It's born out of the fact that they are so scared of their own attraction that they're going to [be gay], but they could be bisexual, they could be homosexual, there's so many different sexualities that they could be. Those identities still exist and they're always going to exist. “The only thing that changes by poor representation is the way they feel about themselves. So when people bring up the statistic that more and more people are identifying as LGBTQIA+, it's not because we're being turned into this. “It's because we're learning to feel comfortable in who we are and we are gradually becoming a society where we could comfortably live freely without fearing that we're going to be put in prison. I don't think that's a difficult concept to understand that when you're not being told that if you are caught if you're a man and you're caught having sex with a man, you're going to go to jail, there's going to be more people that are going to openly then come out as gay. “So no, I think it's absolute crap. There is no such thing as being indoctrinated into being queer. “That doesn't exist. It is literally the case that if you provide minorities with representation that help them understand that it's okay to be who you are, that these feelings are valid and that they exist and that there's other people that experience these feelings, they're going to learn to be more comfortable and learn to accept who they are sooner. “And if you're a parent of someone that is experiencing that, all you should want is for them to be comfortable in who they are. And if you're actively trying to hinder that, you shouldn't be a parent.” In the UK, sex education is part of RSHE, which stands for relationships, sex and health education. It is mandatory for RSHE to be taught in all secondary schools in England. Nevertheless, these lessons are often criticised for being outdated and lacking comprehensive and inclusive conversations. When joking over the fact that sex workers would probably make for better sex educational teachers, Max remarked: “Whenever you speak to anyone who works in the sex work space in any capacity, whether they work for a sex toy company or are a porn star, these are the most educated, understanding, compassionate people you will ever meet. “They know everything about safe sex. They know everything about navigating things consensually. “They're very liberal. They're very understanding.” It is clear that pornography can be consumed irresponsibly, in addition to sometimes harbouring a controversial industry. Conversely, those who work within the industry or are involved in the adult scene, can offer perspective and unfiltered information, most would benefit from. “I have never felt more safe going into a sex club because everyone there understands how it works,” Max said. “I've been groped more in just a standard club than I ever have in a sex club.” He further shared: “I've done plenty of panels where I've done stuff like, talking to uni students, for example, [...] and, they start off really shy and then suddenly they're asking all these different questions and they feel so comfortable because we're so candid because we're so happy to answer them and ensure that they have the correct information and they're doing it safely. And I think that's how it should be done.” Max concluded: “You shouldn't have someone who, is a history teacher being told, ‘yeah, by the way, you're teaching your form sex today’, when their own sex life could be catastrophic, they don't know anything about it. It should be taught by people [who know]. For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .
