Yasmin Benoit (born 10 June 1996) is an English lingerie and alternative model. She is also an

asexual Asexual or Asexuals may refer to: *Asexual reproduction **Asexual reproduction in starfish *Asexuality, the lack of sexual attraction to anyone or lack of interest in or desire for sexual activity. **Gray asexuality, the spectrum between asexualit ...

and

aromantic Aromanticism is a romantic orientation characterized by experiencing little to no romantic attraction. The term "aromantic", Colloquialism, colloquially shortened to "aro", refers to a person whose romantic orientation is aromanticism. It is d ...

activist and researcher.

Early life

Benoit is of Trinidadian, Jamaican, and Barbadian descent. She attended Reading Girls' School and

Padworth College Padworth College is a co-educational private day and boarding senior school in Padworth, Berkshire. It was opened in 1963, and housed in a grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or hist ...

. At a young age, Benoit was not interested in anyone sexually or romantically. She chose to attend an

all-girls school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...

to avoid conversations about

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

and relationships. Benoit came across the term ''

'' in high school, but she did not identify with it until later in life. Benoit has a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Sociology from

St Mary's University, Twickenham St Mary's University, Twickenham is a public university in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its stated commitment is to the mission of the Catholic Church in higher education. History Originally foun ...

and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in Crime Science from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

Modeling

Benoit began modeling at age 16, focusing her efforts on

alternative fashion Alternative fashion or alt fashion is fashion that stands apart from mainstream, commercial fashion. It includes both styles which do not conform to the mainstream fashion of their time and the styles of specific subcultures (such as emo, goth, hip ...

. Her first modeling work was in 2015 with Scottish brand CRMC. She later modeled with Love Sick London, Dethkult Clothing, Seduced By Lilith, Kuki London, Pin Up Girl Clothing, and Teen Hearts. In March 2018, Benoit collaborated with

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

-owned

gothic fashion Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the goth subculture. A dark, sometimes morbid, fashion and style of clothing, dress, typical gothic fashion includes black Hair coloring, dyed hair and black clothes. Both male and female go ...

brand, Gothic Lamb.

Activism

Benoit appeared in a

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

documentary on asexuality, but she was critical of the experience, claiming the way the documentary framed asexuality was a misrepresentation. She later appeared in a ''

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

'' documentary on asexuality in February 2019. She has spoken publicly about work as an asexual lingerie model. This led her to found the hashtag #ThisIsWhatAsexualityLooksLike in 2019. Benoit wrote for publications including ''

HuffPost UK ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' and gave talks at events and universities, including the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Reading Pride Reading Pride is an annual LGBTQ+ event held in Reading, Berkshire, England, that serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically asso ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and National Student Pride. In collaboration with

Asexual Visibility and Education Network The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) is an online community founded in 2001 by David Jay and classed as a 501(c)4 non-profit since June 2022. By 2021, it had 135,539 members, according to Michael Doré, one of its members in the ...

(AVEN),

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

, and Revolt London, Benoit hosted the first asexual-themed bar at

Pride in London Pride in London is an annual LGBT pride festival and pride parade held each summer in London, England. The event, which was formerly run by Pride London, is sometimes referred to as London Pride. Pride in London celebrates the diversity of the ...

in 2019. She joined the board of directors of AVEN that October. In a December 2019 issue of ''

Attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

'' titled "The Activists", Benoit became the first openly asexual woman to appear on the cover of a UK magazine. In early 2020, Benoit worked with England Unwrapped to interview asexual people. The episode was originally broadcast on

BBC Radio Berkshire BBC Radio Berkshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Berkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 48,00 listeners as of May 2025. It has ...

and later published on

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...

. She co-founded International Asexuality Day (April 6) in 2021, and in 2022, launched an asexual rights initiative—known as the Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project—in partnership with Stonewall. In June 2023, Benoit became the first openly asexual person to be a grand marshal for the

NYC Pride March The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBT culture in New York City, LGBTQ community in New York City#Sexual orientation and gender identity, New York City. The largest pride parade and the List of largest LGBT events, larges ...

. Benoit was a consultant for the final season of Netflix's ''

Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

''. Following the release of the season, Benoit expressed disappointment that scenes involving an asexual character—especially those dealing with "the intersections of race, privilege, and acephobia"—had been cut or changed in editing.

Research

From 2025 to 2027, Benoit is a Visiting Research Fellow at

's Policy Institute. In February 2025, she co-authored her first report with Michael Sanders on public attitudes towards asexuality in the UK.

Recognition

In 2018, ''Aislin Magazine'' wrote, in "the predominantly White alternative branch of modeling, enoit hasbecome one of the UK's most prominent Black alternative models." In 2021, Benoit was given an ''Attitude'' Pride Award. In 2022, Benoit was nominated for a British LGBT Award in the category of Online Influencer. In the same year, she was awarded Campaigner/Influencer of the Year by the Bank of London Rainbow Honours.

Personal life

Benoit is

and

. She came out in a video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit, Yasmin Living people 1996 births Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham Alumni of University College London Aromantic women Asexual women Black British fashion people Black British LGBTQ people British women civil rights activists English female models English LGBTQ models English LGBTQ rights activists English people of Barbadian descent English people of Jamaican descent English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent English women activists Fellows of King's College London Models from Berkshire People educated at Padworth College People from Reading, Berkshire 21st-century Black British women 21st-century English LGBTQ people