A "thorough legal review” is underway to determine if the university can comply with the law while ensuring research continues, she said. The university is “firmly committed to academic freedom," Whitten said in an April 28 statement. “It’s a chilling precedent," Garcia said, a sentiment shared by Indiana University President Pamela Whitten. “It reinforces, for me, the importance of the research being done here," she said.Īnd that research, along with the work of other public colleges and universities, could be at risk as the Legislature uses funding to “dictate” what questions can be asked within a specific program, the institute's director said. Back then, when her husband John Bancroft was the director, attacks were frequently rooted in the same kind of misinformation about sex and health that the institute's research has helped dispel, Graham said. Senior scientist Cynthia Graham, who studies sexual behavior among older adults as well as contraceptive use in women, returned to the institute this year after departing in 2004. “It’s another attack on legitimate research.” “Sexuality research tends to get targeted, often for political reasons,” Halpern said. When she heard about Indiana curtailing Kinsey Institute funding, she thought, “Here we go again.” Professor Carolyn Halpern teaches her students about Kinsey in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, she said. The institute's website touts a lengthy Frequently Asked Questions section to tackle misconceptions, including the sex abuse allegations against Kinsey and contentions of hidden materials in the library.Īfter the February vote, a new page requests support, such as posting on social media or donating and, where necessary, rectifying false information.
"These are warmed-over internet memes that keep coming back,” he said before the House vote. The move to block the institute's state dollars was based on “old, unproven” conspiracies, said Democratic Rep. “It’s just so far from reality, and it’s so far from the research practices then, and it’s wildly far from the research practices today.” Threats and harassment directed at staff and alumni over the allegations have become frequent, forcing the university to boost security that is already greater than most campus buildings, Garcia said. Such accusations have lingered nearly since the Kinsey Institute’s inception 76 years ago, said Director Justin Garcia. “Who knows what they’re still hiding?” Sweet added. 22 proposed the amendment to prohibit the institute from state funding. “We have child rapists in Indiana prisons right now, yet we’re willing to give Indiana University, Bloomington campus, over $400 million as they protect the legacy of this sexual predator,” said Republican state Rep. But they also say there is evidence of child abuse in Kinsey's work, specifically a research table they unfoundedly claim resulted from sexual experiments on children. In part, critics blame such research for wrongly contributing to a greater acceptance of homosexuality and pornography. Kinsey's major works, published in 19, disrupted cultural norms around sex, achieving commercial success and drawing praise, as well as sharp criticism from conservatives who continue to deride the institute. The Kinsey Institute, about 50 miles (82 kilometers) from Indianapolis on Indiana University's Bloomington campus, is named for Alfred Kinsey, a former professor who established the institute in 1947.
Funding from the university remains unclear, but Zoe Peterson, senior scientist and director of the Sexual Assault Research Initiative at the Kinsey Institute, will continue her inquiries into consent and those who perpetrate sexual assault.Ĭontrary to what conspiracy theorists claim about the institute, “I’ve devoted my career to reducing sexual violence,” she said.
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