Fabian LoSchiavo

Fabian LoSchiavo (15 December 1949 - 11 May 2023) was an Australian Catholic novice who, following years of conversion therapy and other interventions, fought to have gay people included within Australian Christian churches. He was a member of synod for the Anglican Diocese of Sydney between 1977 to 1986 and, during this time, founded AngGays an LGBTQI+ group within the Anglican church which fought for the recognition of gay men within the church.

LoSchiavo faced considerable hostility during his time which led him to join the Order of Perpetual Indulgence, Sydney in 1981 where he became known, amongst other names, as Mother Abyss and Mother Inferior.

Early life and study LoSchiavo was born in Sydney and religion was important to him from a very early age and, even as a child, he filled his bedroom with religious paraphernalia and, of this he said he cultivated an "over the top kind of spirituality" and that he was an unstable mixture of “extreme piety and extreme attraction to sex”. He wanted to become a priest from childhood and started sending enquiries from the age of 15, however, his parents insisted on him finishing school first. LoSchiavo recalled his initial disappointment with this:

From 1977 to 1986 he was a member of the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney where he encountered significant hostility and, in 1978 he founded AngGays, a group to support gay Anglicans. One of AngGays primary aims was to meet the spiritual needs of individual gay and lesbian people within the church and to assist in referring them to 'sympathetic parishes'. Another was during the 1986 visit by Pope John Paul II in which he was arrested for chanting 'anti woman, anti gay, fascist Pope go away! ' alongside Sister Mary Mary Quite Contrary (Peter Collard).

LoSchiavo would also officiate exorcisms, raffles and dogs shows as a nun.