01:11 PM ET 07/10/99 Swingers Get Together in Nevada Swingers Get Together in Nevada By SCOTT SONNER= Associated Press Writer= RENO, Nev. (AP) _ There haven't been any Austin Powers sightings. But thousands of swingers have convened here this weekend to view erotic art, attend human sexuality workshops and do, uh, what swingers do. The hotel pool was dominated Friday by itsy-bitsy, string bikinis. One man wore a T-shirt that read, ``Guess Where I'm Pierced.'' Just don't call it a ``swingers conference'' _ at least not around chief organizer Robert McGinley, a psychologist from Anaheim, Calif. ``It is NOT a swingers conference. It is NOT a sex conference,'' McGinley, founder of Lifestyles Organization, said during an opening briefing Friday. For the record, it's the ``Lifestyles '99 Reno Rendezvous,'' which touts its educational programs, personal freedom and sexual equality. Workshops include ``Romance on the Internet,'' ``HIV Update,'' ``500 Unusual Sex Practices,'' ``Growing Up With Kinky Parents'' and ``Sex Without Guilt: The Morality of Sexual Pluralism.'' Porn star Ron Jeremy was slated to speak on ``Sex and the Law.'' There's a session called ``Introduction to Swinging ... for experienced and novice swingers alike'' _ consenting couples who swap spouses or practice other-than-monogamous relationships. It offers tips on how ``to handle jealousy, personal hygiene and safe sex.'' ``A lot of people here are involved in swinging,'' McGinley conceded. ``But the Lifestyles Convention sponsors no sex acts whatsoever. What it does is let people learn about it.'' McGinley said that after 30 years of study, he still can't define a ``swinger.'' ``We have nudists here. We have people involved in threesomes. We have people who are plain ordinary couples exploring the possibility of enhancing their relationship,'' he said. Janine Hansen, founder of the Nevada Eagle Forum affiliated with conservative Phyllis Schlafly, criticized the convention as reinforcing a negative stereotype of Nevada as the ``Sin State.'' ``It promotes the image that this isn't a stable community,'' she told the Reno News & Review. Reno Hilton officials said they'd had only one complaint, from two Las Vegas mothers traveling with a gymnastics team of girls ages 10 to 14. Women wearing see-through outfits with string-bikini underwear were parading through the hotel and casino Thursday night, Linda Levy and Jo Knapp said. ``Never in my 42 years of life have I seen anything like this,'' Levy said. ``It's horrible. It's disgusting. We were never told by the Hilton there'd be anything like this.'' Hotel managers agreed to transfer them to another hotel across town, although Hilton official Rhett Long said the team's tour director was notified ahead of time and that convention-goers haven't acted inappropriately. ``The worst thing they've seen are thong bikinis and those are not against the law,'' Long said. Steve Mason, a San Diego psychologist and convention speaker, said he thought about half of the 4,000 people at the conference were ``swingers.'' ``A lot of them drop their kids off at the grandparents and they're ready to kick their heels up for the night,'' said Mason, who first addressed the convention in 1989. ``I was amazed by the smiles on people's faces. They've gotten rid of one of the biggest sources of stress in our lives. They handle sex as a normal part of life,'' he said. McGinley founded the Lifestyles Organization in 1973 with a retreat attended by about 125 in Riverside, Calif. The group moved its convention to Nevada because of legal battles with liquor officers in California who won't allow erotic art exhibits in the same building with liquor sales.