Martin John Cole (4 October 1931 – 2 June 2015) was a British sexologist, sex education advocate and campaigner for abortion law reform, dubbed "Sex King Cole" by The Sun newspaper for his work in this field."Therapy can be fun", Time, 10 September 1973"Martin Cole, sexologist – obituary", The Daily Telegraph, 22 June 2015
Life Cole was born in London in 1931.Author's biography, The Fundamentals of Sex by P. Cauthery & M. Cole (1973) Corgi Books He read Botany at Southampton University for a BSc and gained a PhD in Plant Genetics. After a period in Africa, in 1964 he took up the post of lecturer in Genetics at the College of Advanced Technology which became Aston University.Chris Arnot "How lack of orgasms turned to lack of interest", The Independent 28 July 1993 In 1984 he left the university, to work full-time at the Institute for Sex Education and Research which he had established.D. Limond (2008) History of Education 37 (3) pp 409–429 'I never imagined that the time would come': Martin Cole, the Growing Up Controversy and the Limits of School Sex Education in 1970s England He was married and divorced three times"Sex king named in divorce", Daily Mirror, 9 May 1981 and had five children who survived him.
He died 2 June 2015 aged 83.The Times 12 June 2015 Obituary Martin Cole
Work Apart from his academic work in genetics, he was Chairman of the Birmingham Group of the Abortion Law Reform Association and involved in the setting up of clinics for advice on sexual matters, contraception and abortion. Following the Abortion Act 1967 he was a founder of the Birmingham Pregnancy Advisory Service (which later became the British Pregnancy Advisory Service) which assisted women to get legal abortions, initially using the front room of his home for consultations in 1968.Calthorpe Clinic Medical Seminar 26 September 2007 Forty Years of Legal Abortion He also set up an Institute of Sex Education and Research in 1966 which included the use of female therapists acting as surrogate partners to treat men with erectile dysfunction."Man behind the first sex clinic in city", Birmingham Post, 18 September 2006 In 1972, Jill Knight, the Conservative MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, accused him of running a brothel.In the House of Commons, Jill Knight related the experiences of one of her constituents, Miss X, who had worked as a sex therapist for Cole. See
In 1971 he placed into the public domain what was then said to be "the most explicit and frank film ever made for use in schools","A sex-act film for children", Daily Mirror 13 January 1971 a thirty-minute sex education film called Growing Up which had been made two years earlier. It was condemned by Mary Whitehouse, Lord Longford"Peer slams school sex film"Daily Mirror 17 April 1971 and Margaret Thatcher."That sex film gets 'X' certificate", Daily Mirror 22 April 1971 Conservative MP Elaine Kellett-Bowman, then known as Elaine Kellett, walked out of the screening exclaiming: "I would shoot that man", meaning Cole. The same year his book Fundamentals of Sex was published.P.Cauthery & M. Cole (1971) Fundamentals of Sex, Wiley The work caused particular comment at the time because it contained explicit photographs."Dr Cole's Sex Book Shocker", Daily Mirror 1 June 1971
By 1993 though, the Institute of Sex Education and Research had only two therapists still working there from a peak of ten; Cole's approach to resolving sexually problems had been affected by the onset of AIDS.
See also Calthorpe Clinic
References
External links Photos of Martin Cole and his wife in 1970 Muthergrumble June 1972 Sex Education: An interview with Dr Martin Cole