The Indiana House voted Wednesday to prohibit the state from funding the Kinsey Institute, a research institute at IU aimed at promoting a greater understanding of human sexuality and relationships.
Rep. Lorissa Sweet, R-District 50, proposed the amendment to House Bill 1001, the state budget bill, which will prohibit state funding from going to the institute. The amendment was presented after raising concern about the Kinsey Institute’s namesake. The amendment was passed with a 53-34 vote.
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At the House Chamber meeting, Sweet claimed the Kinsey Institute has a history of child sex studies, much of which she said have been referred to as crimes against children.
"We as the governing body need to put limits on the access to tax dollars we allow Indiana University to garner by denying such funds to be directed towards Kinsey Institute,” Sweet said at the House Chamber meeting.
Sweet said by limiting the funding to Kinsey Institute, they can be assured they are not “funding research committed by crimes.”
Rep. Matt Pierce, D-District 61, took to the stand to oppose the amendment. He said these accusations were widely debunked.
“This amendment is based on old, unproven allegations of conspiracies that did not exist,” Pierce said. “There are no sexual predators and there never have been at the Kinsey Institute.”
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Pierce said, Wednesday's vote to defund the Kinsey Institute shows the House Republicans have been captured by the extreme right wing.
“Rational decision making in the House is no longer possible with legislators more interested in fighting culture wars or just afraid some crazy person will defeat them in a primary election if they don't support extreme bills," Pierce said in the statement.
The Kinsey Institute was founded in 1947 by Alfred Kinsey, according to the Kinsey Institute. Kinsey was an American sexologist, biologist and professor of entomology and zoology. After being asked questions about sexuality from students, Kinsey’s interest was piqued by his “gap in knowledge,” and he began collecting sex histories from student first then individuals in the Bloomington community. In 1940, Kinsey focused all of his time on sex research.
The Kinsey Institute was not immediately available for a comment.
