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RYAN LEE
Friday, June 02, 2006
Psychiatrist Fritz Klein, who fled anti-Semitism in Austria during his childhood and spent most of his adult life fighting a different form of oppression in the United States, died last month at his San Diego home.
The pioneering bisexual researcher, author and activist was 73.
Klein helped illuminate the bursts of color that exist within human sexuality, which long has been viewed as black and white, gay and straight. Instead of bisexuality being the gray area that exists in between exclusive heterosexuality and exclusive homosexuality — the theory embodied in famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey’s linear scale — Klein advocated that it be seen as part of an “ongoing dynamic process” of sexual orientation.
“Instead of trying to squeeze people into these boxes [when defining sexual orientation] — don’t make just two boxes because you’re leaving out a tremendous segment of people,” Klein, who died May 24, told the Blade in January.
First published in his 1978 book “The Bisexual Option,” the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid is intended to measure seven components of sexual orientation — attraction, behavior, fantasies, emotional preference, social preference, lifestyle and self-identification — using a 1-to-7 scale, with 1 representing an exclusively heterosexual persuasion and 7 representing an exclusively homosexual one.
But the Klein Grid also measures each of these components over three different periods — past, present and “ideal” — which allows for more nuance when defining sexual orientation. How a person perceives his or her sexual orientation may change over time, and Klein advocated for a less restrictive approach to labeling human sexuality.
“Because he was so highly respected in his field, his work could not be discounted by reactionaries and has changed the way bisexually identified persons are viewed by counseling professionals, researchers and the general public,” said Denise Penn, who serves on the board of the American Institute of Bisexuality, an organization Klein founded and led until his death.
“His work enhanced, extended and gave credibility to theoretical work that preceded him,” Penn said. “But beyond that, Fritz was a truly compassionate man who decided to make a difference in the world. Although his outspoken and direct style startled some at first, his intense honesty was an essential component both in his research and in helping others become comfortable with themselves.”
Klein, who eventually became an American citizen, founded a bisexual advocacy group known as the Bisexual Forum in New York City and San Diego in the 1970s and ’80s. Among other goals, the organization aimed to raise visibility of bisexuals among both heterosexuals and gay men and lesbians, two groups that Klein said often exhibited an equal amount of denial about the existence of bisexuality.
“Bisexuals can be seen as a threat to gay people because [gay people] fight so hard to be accepted being gay that they have questioned their own identity,” Klein told the Blade earlier this year.
In addition to “The Bisexual Option,” Klein also authored “Man, His Body, His Sex” in 1978, and the 2005 novel, “Life, Sex, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” He also helped edit a trio of bisexual anthologies, and was the founding editor of the Journal of Bisexuality.
Klein’s advocacy also included organizing the inaugural International Bisexual Conference in 1991 and serving as president of the Bisexual Foundation Board.
He was recently diagnosed with cancer, but suffered a cardiac arrest and died suddenly at his home. Klein chose to donate his body to science. He is survived by his life partner, Tom Reise of San Diego, and two brothers, George and Seymour of New York City.
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