Steve Stefanopoulos, 40s
Mayor of the City of Stonnington
Cis male, Gay
He/him
“I am Australia’s first and only same-sex married mayor,” Steve Stefanapolous proudly declares as we sit down in his mayoral office in Malvern. On his desk sits a rainbow flag, loudly acknowledging his personal alliance with the LGBTIQ+ community. But the mayor, in his second elected term, hasn’t always been the out, loud and proud man that he is today.
Born to Greek immigrant parents, Steve grew up in Malvern and led a fairly conservative life being educated in Catholic schools and getting involved with the Greek community. Since his primary school days, Steve recognised his attraction to other boys, but did not understand what he was feeling.
“We were late bloomers, and there was very little taught about gender and sexuality back in the 80s and 90s, and much less since our sex ed was taught by Christian brothers,” Steve laments.
Joining the teacher’s training college after high school, Steve found the freedom to explore what he had been feeling and to express himself, away from the rigidity of religious schools.
“You know, I was the typical gay man without even knowing it. I go study at university and pick up all these women as girlfriends, and they seemed to know I was gay even before I did!” Steve jokes.
Over the years at university, Steve began to understand his sexual attraction but still remained in the closet until one of his close friends created a safe space for Steve to come out.
“It was a sunny warm day and we went for a walk around Princes Park in Carlton. We had been walking about two thirds around the park and she had been prompting me, and asking questions, poking and prodding me to tell her. And I finally did tell her that I think I’m gay, and she just said to me, ‘Yeah, I know Steve’ and it was just such a relief. At the time, it felt like the hardest thing to do but in retrospect it wasn’t.”