Our History

Acceptance Melbourne Inc is committed to supporting LGBTIQ+ Catholics across Victoria, providing a safe and spiritually nurturing space to practice their faith since 1974.

An in-depth history of Acceptance can be found on the Acceptance Sydney page.

Acceptance Melbourne members and friends have met and celebrated Masses in homes until the early 2000’s, where one of the homes which hosted the Masses, belonging to Ms Mary Gaynor, the then-President of the South Yarra Parish Pastoral Council,  was adjacent to St Thomas Aquinas’ Church. Mary, being an avid supporter of Acceptance Melbourne and the LGBTIQ+ community, sought permission from the parish priest  at the time, Fr John Barry OSA for Acceptance Melbourne to call the Parish home. Since that day, Acceptance Melbourne have had monthly Masses at St Thomas Aquinas, 43 Bromby Street South Yarra on the second Friday of each month at 8pm following dinner.

In addition to Masses, Acceptance Melbourne began hosting monthly social events in May 2016 so members and their friends can connect outside of Mass.

In June 2018, the Acceptance Melbourne committee decided to move monthly Masses from St Thomas Aquinas to St Joseph’s Church on 30 Fitzgerald Street, South Yarra which is a more central location for those travelling by public transport.