Exhibit to show 40 years of Acceptance in Sydney

Former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally will officially open an exhibition at Surry Hills Library early next month that documents the story of the world’s second oldest gay Catholic group, Acceptance Sydney.

Having been founded in 1972, the group first met in homes, halls and churches offered by other faiths, with Acceptance members not welcome to celebrate Mass in a Catholic church until almost 20 years later.

In the late 1980s, Acceptance gained a national presence, with chapters in Canberra as well as all mainland state capitals.

The group today maintains chapters in Sydney and Melbourne.

To mark the group’s 40th anniversary, Surry Hills Library will host a collection of photos, stories and other archival material curated by current members of Acceptance Sydney.

The exhibition to be launched on Thursday, June 7 by Keneally – a practising Catholic and current Labor MP for Heffron – attempts to give insight into Acceptance’s struggle to find its place in Sydney, the gay community and in the Catholic Church.

The exhibition will be on display in the library for the whole month of June.

The Acceptance Sydney exhibition will be launched at 6.30pm, Thursday, June 7 at Surry Hills Library. Cost is free but booking is essential: http://www.eventbrite.com.au/event/3467895569/eorg?ebtv=C

For more information, visit www.gaycatholic.com.au