The controversy surrounding a conference highlighting the subject of polyamory that is scheduled to take place at Bar Ilan University refuses to die down.
On Tuesday, a conference titled "Treatment Issues in Polyamory" will take place at the Religious Zionist institution. The event will highlight various kinds of alternative marriages, with panels slated to be held "On Polyamory, Open Relationships and Judgment in the Therapeutic Space" and “Polyamory — Fusion and Healing in the Face of Fracture”.
The event has caused an uproar at the institution, with upwards of 2,000 students and faculty alike signing a petition this week protesting the event as one that "destroys families". Demonstrations have also been held outside the house of Bar Ilan University Rector Miriam Faust and students received emails and text messages imploring them to flood university management with complaints.
"If you also think that adultery and betrayal destroy the family, write to Miriam Faust what do you think about the 'professional' polygamous conference hosted by Bar-Ilan University," wrote the messages.
Now, Bar Ilan University has been taking several steps in an attempt to quell the growing outrage as the controversy only continues to build. According to the blog 'The Hottest Place In Hell', the university has ramped up security to an "unprecedented level" after the moderator scheduled to host the event said that she feared for her physical safety.
Meanwhile, booklets promoting the conference have been changed and do not include racy quotes that graced the original version. In addition, a lecture that was formally titled "A Painful Compromise Whose Name Is Polyamory" has been renamed and is now called "Polyamory: Associations Of Impulse And Anxiety And Clinical Patterns In Professional And Public Attitudes To The Phenomenon".
Another panel headed by a sex therapist has its monicker changed from "Another Longing" to "Reconnecting And Healing In The Face Of Fracture". A scheduled monologue by the actress Esti Zakheim titled "Project Sex" is now advertised as simply a "Monologue".
A slew of restrictions have also been imposed regarding who is allowed to attend the controversial conference. "At first, no restrictions were imposed on registration for the conference, but the second leaflet stated clearly that 'the conference is intended for therapists and early registration only," reported The Hottest Place In Hell. "People who registered and paid received a cancellation notice."