Gay comedian Anthony Menchetti is a gay conversion school dropout – and proud of it!

A regular at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and gay and lesbian festivals such as Midsumma, Anthony Menchetti  is one of our community’s  most successful comedians.

And speaking to the Melbourne-based comic, it’s easy to see why – this is one funny dude!

Recounting his true-life experiences in a Christian gay ‘conversion school’ (where poofs and dykes are ‘converted’ to heterosexuality) Menchetti explains: “On my first day I stood up and said, ‘Hi, my name’s Anthony Menchetti. I’m gay but I’m trying to quit. Down to one fag a day now.”

The conversion school in question, a ‘facility’ in Perth based on an American gay conversion program called ‘Exodus’, provides the material for Menchetti’s new show, Gay Conversion School Dropout –  a key part of this year’s ‘In Stiches’ comedy program at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).

Conversion School focuses on Menchetti’s time in the aforementioned school his parents sent him to when he came out.

“My parents didn’t handle it very well,” he tells Queensland Pride. “In fact, they completely lost their minds and decided that the best thing for me to do was to convert to heterosexuality. The most important part of [the school] was that we had to stay completely celibate. No sex whatsoever. The church believed that if we starved our sexual urges, they would eventually drop off – like leprosy!”

Happily, his sexuality didn’t “drop off” and 32-year-old Menchetti is an out, proud, gay man in 2009. No thanks to his parents’ attempts at ‘reprogramming’ their son!

“My parents are extremely religious,” Menchetti reveals. “Mum once bought a bottle of mayonnaise because it had the word ‘Praise’ on it.”

So how are they about his sexuality now?

“It’s a very long story but basically, they are much better. Mum recently tried to convert my boyfriend to Jesus, so that’s a good sign.”

Today, Menchetti can look back on his conversion school “nightmare” and laugh.

“They put a pile of gay men together in a small room, asked us to talk openly about our sexual history and then insist we remain celibate. Is it just me, or does that sound totally hot?” he chuckles.

“You’ll have to see the show to find out more...”

Gay Conversion School Dropout by Anthony Menchetti, proudly presented in partnership with Queensland Pride: Wednesday, June 24 to Saturday, July 4 at QPAC, South Brisbane. Tickets ($23-$29) available at www.qtix.com.au or on 136 246.

Queensland Pride has five double passes to give away to the show. For your chance to win, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the word ‘dropout’ in the subject line. Winners only will be notified by reply email.

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