Bisexuals make international strides toward inclusion and mourn the loss of Dr. Fritz Klein.

By Denise Penn

They came from all over the world—Europe, Africa, South Asia, South America, and the United States—to discuss and explore such topics as bi politics, gender roles, polyamory, bisexual health, and sexual diversity. They attended workshops, sang, danced, and made friends with like-minded others, in hopes of fostering understanding and community across borders and continents among people interested in exploring what it means to be bisexual. This was The Ninth International Conference on Bisexuality held in Toronto this past month.

Since 1991, International Conferences on Bisexuality have been held in all parts of the world, giving this conference a global flavor. The First International Conference On Bisexuality was held in 1991 in Amsterdam. Dr. Fritz Klein was living there at the time and envisioned more than a small local conference. The attendance was 250—which was incredible for a first-time event. The second international conference took place the following year in London, and since then there has been an international conference every other year.

In 1994 New York was the host, followed by Berlin in 1996. In 1998, Boston held the most successful to date, with over 900 people attending. Held at Harvard University, it featured more than a hundred workshops. In 2000 the conference took place in Manchester and in 2002 it moved to Sydney, Australia, where it was held during their famous annual Gay and Lesbian Marti Gras celebration coinciding with the Gay Games.

Local bisexuals who were inspired by attending previous conferences organized the Ninth International Conference in Toronto. Dr. Trevor Jacques, a physicist, activist and author, presented findings from his recent study on BDSM with an emphasis on the ways in which bisexuals differ from heterosexuals and homosexuals. Author and sexologist Loraine Hutchins delivered a keynote address discussing a possible future where the world isn't divided by religious war and oppression.

Entertainment was provided by The Wet Spots (Cass King and John Woods), a musical sex comedy duo that write sophisticated lyrics paired with sweet, catchy melodies inspired by the risqué satirical songs of Monty Python, South Park, Tenacious D, and musical comedy legend Rusty Warren.

Sadly, there was someone missing from the conference: Dr. Fritz Klein, founder and chairman of the board of the American Institute of Bisexuality. Klein died May 24, 2006, following a cardiac arrest at his home in San Diego, just a few weeks before the conference. He was 73.

Dr. Klein is best known for his pioneering sex research and the development of the multi-dimensional Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, which measures the complexity and fluidity of sexual orientation.

The Klein Grid, first published in 1978, expanded on the "zero to six" Kinsey scale. The Klein Grid measures actual sexual experiences, but also sexual attractions, fantasies, emotional preference, social preference, lifestyle and self-identification as they relate to a person's past, present and ideal future. Klein's research showed that these factors could change over time for an individual, and vary not just between but also within groups of straight, gay, and bisexual people. He concluded that people generalize from their own experiences and feelings to assume, often wrongly, that other people must experience their own sexual orientations the same way.

As a result, Klein concluded sexual orientations are too complex to be broken into simple, well-defined categories. Nonetheless, he was a tireless activist especially concerning issues related to the bisexual community. He was known all over the world for his groundbreaking research and writing, ranging from the academic publication of the Klein Grid in the Journal of Homosexuality in 1985 to popular books and articles concerning bisexuality, as well as a novel, Life, Sex and the Pursuit of Happiness, published in 2005 by Harrington Park Press.

Klein was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1932. While still a small boy, he fled with his family to New York City to escape anti-Semitism and the impending war. He later studied medicine in Switzerland at Bern University and received an MBA from Columbia University. Dr. Klein was a board-certified psychiatrist for 30 years in New York and San Diego until his retirement. Early in his career, he realized that there was a void in knowledge about sexual orientation, specifically in the area of bisexuality. He placed an ad in the Village Voice for a meeting that resulted in the creation in New York of the Bisexual Forum, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. During this period he wrote The Bisexual Option, 1978, and co-authored Man, His Body, His Sex in 1978.

After moving to San Diego, Klein founded the Bisexual Forum for that city in 1982, wrote several books, and founded and became editor of The Journal of Bisexuality.

Klein founded the American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB), a public benefit charity, in 1998 to encourage, support and assist research and education about bisexuality, and served as chairman of the board up until his death. He was known for being outspoken, controversial and compassionate, and for his love and support of theater and the arts. Though he had recently been diagnosed with cancer, his death from cardiac arrest was sudden and unexpected. His life partner, Tom Reise of San Diego, and two brothers, George and Seymour of New York City, survive him. He chose to donate his body to science. San Diego’s Bi Forum recently held a celebration of his life, and a larger event is being planned.

Contributions may be made in Dr. Fritz Klein’s memory to San Diego's Diversionary Theatre. For more information, go to www.diversionary.org.