Trustees set vote to separate IU from Kinsey Institute on sexual research
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana University Board of Trustees has scheduled a Friday vote on whether to spin off the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproductive Rights into its own nonprofit entity.
The trustees tabled the vote in November after backlash from critics.
In 2023, the Indiana General Assembly passed a law barring the use of public funds to support Kinsey, prompting university officials to find a way to disassociate itself from Kinsey.
The amendment’s Republican sponsor, Wabash state Rep. Lorissa Sweet, said the institute has a long history of exploiting children.
Democratic lawmakers say no evidence exists of anyone breaking the law at the 77-year-old institute.
Kinsey researchers says lawmakers are using the budget process to punish the institute because the politicians do not agree with the facility’s work.
The trustees’ public meeting was set to begin at 9:50 a.m. Friday at IU’s Southeast Campus in New Albany.
Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, who died in Bloomington in 1956 at age 62, founded the institute at IU in 1947. The 2004 film “Kinsey” was based on his life.