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In view of the recent phase of political opposition to sex research and intense public interest in Alfred C. Kinsey, this paper considers the impact that Kinsey's research has had on the political process in the past 50 years. Initial reactions to Kinsey's research that remain relevant today include "normal" people don't participate in sex surveys, sex surveys are intended to promote homosexuality, and asking people about their sex lives in a nonjudgmental fashion promotes immorality. Episodes of political opposition are documented, and the long-running anti-Kinsey campaign and its impact on the political process are described and discussed. Reasons why people might still oppose sex research are considered, and conclusions are reached about how sex researchers might deal with this problem.
Key Words: Alfred Kinsey, NIH, politics, pornography, sex research.
We are in the midst of a new wave of political opposition to sex research, including new research at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. In the background is a long-running campaign to discredit and demonize Alfred Kinsey, using him as a scapegoat for many of society's current problems. However, this is also a period of exceptional and largely positive interest in Alfred Kinsey: A Hollywood movie and an American Experience documentary have been made about his life and work. There have been two plays about him, and a musical, called Dr Sex.1 The year 2003 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, & Gebhard, 1953), the later of the two groundbreaking books by Kinsey and his colleagues. The Kinsey Institute and Indiana University celebrated this anniversary with a yearlong program of events centered on the theme of women's sexuality.
In this paper I will consider the relevance of Kinsey's work to the politics of sex research in the United States and, in particular, the periodic political opposition to such research. The more recent campaign against Kinsey and the Institute which bears his name will be described. An attempt will be made to understand why such opposition to Kinsey, in particular, and sex research in general continues into the 21st Century. Finally, I will present an "epilogue," giving my personal appraisal of Alfred Kinsey, the man and the scientist. This...