BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Sexual wellness brands and sexual education groups from all over the United States have taken up the cause of helping keep the world-renowned Kinsey Institute at Indiana University open and operating after the conservative state legislature chose to defund it.
“The defunding of the Kinsey Institute was a wake-up call for all of us who understand the importance of comprehensive sex education,” Tara Michaela Jones told AVN in an email. Jones is the founder and executive director of The Youth Sexpert Program, a nonprofit group working to improve comprehensive sexual educational curriculums at school districts all over the country.
The Youth Sexpert Program, partially taking inspiration from the critically acclaimed Netflix original comedy series Sex Education, is focused on developing peer-to-peer sexual wellness and health experts among high school-aged students. The group is one such organization working to carry on the institute’s legacy by supporting it through engaging in fundraising and education.
“We saw a gap in traditional sex education and knew we had to step in,” Jones explained.
“Our program empowers our youth to become advocates for sexual health and wellbeing, and it's our way of filling the void left by the defunding. We're committed to ensuring that young people have access to accurate, non-judgmental information about their bodies and relationships, and we won't let setbacks like these deter us from our mission,” she added.
This dedication is reflected in recent fundraising efforts led by Desert Harvest, a sexual health and wellness company in Maine.
“As a sexual wellness company, we're passionate about supporting unbiased research on human sexuality, relationships and reproduction,” said Heather Florio, chief executive officer at Desert Harvest. Florio, with the help of organizations such as Jones’ Youth Sexpert Program, is trying to raise funds throughout the month of October on behalf of Kinsey.
“Our auction brings together celebrities and designers to raise crucial funds for the Kinsey Institute, ensuring that their invaluable work continues to educate and inform society,” Florio said.
The auction features items by celebrity fashion designers like Stella McCartney, Cesar Galindo, Nikki Green and Carlton Jones. The auction is live on Desert Harvest’s website and will run through the end of the month. All of the proceeds will benefit the Kinsey Institute.
“At Desert Harvest, we recognize that sexual wellness extends beyond products—it's about education and research. That’s why we're hosting the October auction,” Florio explained.
During the 2023 legislative session of the Indiana General Assembly, hard-right Republican state lawmakers were able to adopt a budget resolution that prohibits state dollars from going to fund the work at the Kinsey Institute—the “heart” or “center” of modern sexual health research in the U.S., and for much of the world.
Founded by and named after famed sexual health and zoology researcher Alfred Kinsey, the institute has long been at the center of criticism from conservatives who view the research produced by the organization as immoral and obscene. This is what led to the proposal to defund the Kinsey Institute based on unfounded claims of child sexual abuse.
“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 state Rep. Lorissa Sweet, a Republican lawmaker backed by hard-right super PACs in the state.
Rep. Sweet proposed an amendment to the state budget on February 22 prohibiting funds to the institute. The proposal was adopted. Claims against the Kinsey Institute remain unfounded, and some of the institute’s proponents say that the complaints regarding Kinsey are misinformation.
“We’ve long been called ... perverts and sexual predators. [...] 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,” the institute’s director, evolutionary biologist Dr. Justin Garcia, told the Associated Press in May 2023.
A statement from Indiana University leadership echoed similar support at the time Rep. Sweet and her political allies introduced and adopted the amendment that explicitly refers to Kinsey.
“The university is concerned that a provision singling out a specific research institute sets a troubling precedent with implications that could limit the ability of public colleges and universities to pursue research and scholarship that benefits people and improves lives,” said Indiana University (IU) president Pamela Whitten at the time.
IU “is committed to the ongoing crucial research and robust scholarship conducted by IU faculty and the Kinsey Institute.”
