Thomas K. Hubbard

Thomas K. Hubbard is an American historian who has written about the topic of homosexuality in Ancient Greece. He served as a professor at the University of Texas (UT) for over 30 years and worked as chair at the American Philological Association's Placement Committee. He was included in the Epstein files.

Hubbard's 1998 article titled Popular Perceptions of elitist Homosexuality in Classical Athens became influential among critics of the phallocentric paradigm of homosexuality in Ancient Greece, promoted by Michel Foucault and Kenneth Dover, according to which the male act of sexual penetration was seen as an assertion of dominance over women, boys and other men, as opposed to a more pure manifestation of sexual desire. Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations (editor with Beert Verstraete: 2013) Responses from twelve scholars that argue for or against the conclusions of the academic paper involved in the Rind et al. controversy.

Connection with Jeffrey Epstein

In 2015, Hubbard requested $10,000–$20,000 from Jeffrey Epstein's charitable organization for a 2016 conference. Hubbard's request for financial support from Jeffrey Epstein was made seven years after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution with a minor. In an email statement to The Daily Texan Newspaper, Hubbard wrote of Epstein: '“Like over 1,000,000 Americans, he did have a conviction for a sex-related offense, but from what I could see in 2015, it was for something that would not even have been illegal in most European countries and resulted in a very short sentence.” Attendance at the conference was mandatory for the students in Hubbard's 'Mythology of Rape' class. The conference was titled Theorizing Consent: Educational and Legal Perspectives on Campus Rape. His request expressed concern that Title IX had recent bad, irrational legislation. Videos of conference sessions are available online.

When later asked about his request, Hubbard said his opinion is that Epstein was not a pedophile, but instead was an ephebophile, and that Epstein was taken advantage of by sex workers looking to "cash in".

University of Texas controversy In 2020, while he was serving as a professor at the University of Texas, Hubbard was accused by a group of UT students of defending sexual relationships between adults and minors in his lectures and publications. After students campaigned for his removal, Hubbard's house in Austin was vandalized. He filed multiple libel lawsuits against his accusers. In one of the lawsuits, Hubbard accused the Popular Women's Movement of having sprayed a graffiti on his door. Prior to the controversy, Hubbard had served at the UT for over 30 years and had received no complaints of sexual misconduct. Hubbard brought claims of employment discrimination against the University of Texas, and in 2021 received a substantial settlement, which required him to retire, and withdraw his suits.

One of the students Hubbard had sued, Sarah Blakemore, daughter of Republican political consultant Allen Blakemore, then filed a motion to sanction Hubbard for bringing frivolous claims. However, a court dismissed her case, finding that Hubbard's suit was not brought in bad faith, or for improper purposes, or was frivolous, and further ordered that the cause of action be removed from the docket. Subsequently, Texas Republican Senator Paul Bettencourt, whom Allen Blakemore had worked for, filed a bill in the Texas Legislature that would allow a public college or university to revoke a faculty member’s tenure if they filed a civil lawsuit against a student. Questioned by a reporter, Bettencourt denied that the bill was written as a favor to Allen, calling the suggestion "hogwash".