Brian McGahen

Brian Patrick McGahen (3 March 1952 – 2 April 1990) was an Australian gay activist and social libertarian who was also a social worker and drug councillor who lived openly throughout his life as a gay man. He also served as a councillor/alderman for the City of Sydney Council in which he represented to Flinders Ward from 1984 to 1987.

Biography McGahen was born at Camperdown in Sydney to hairdresser Patrick James McGahen and Monica Marie (née Pettit) Anderson and grew up in Enfield. After attending De La Salle College Ashfield, he received a Bachelor of Social Studies from the University of Sydney in 1974. When at university he became a member of the Communist Party of Australia.

In the mid-1970s, McGahen became involved in the campaign for gay rights as a member of Sydney Gay Liberation and the Socialist Lesbians & Male Homosexuals. He was an organiser for the National Homosexual Conference in 1978 and served as chairman of the Sydney Mardi Gras Association from 1981 to 1984.

He stood as the Communist candidate for Lord Mayor of Sydney in 1980 without success. In 1984, together with fellow Communist Jack Mundey, he was elected as an independent to Sydney City Council for the Flinders ward, serving until the council's dismissal on 26 March 1987. During this period he served as a member on various council committees (including the health and cultural committees)

McGahen became director of a home care service in 1986, and he supported extended care to AIDS sufferers, spousal immigration rights, and a permanent LGBTQ community centre. He joined the Pride steering committee in 1989 and became treasurer.

Legacy

In 1991 he was included of the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, which is now held at the Powerhouse Museum, and his panel was made by members of the Sydney Communists.