10 Facts About Rodger McFarlane

Rodger McFarlane enlisted in the United States Navy in 1974, serving on the USS Flying Fish as a nuclear reactor technician.

Rodger McFarlane began a crisis counseling hotline that originated on his own home telephone, which ultimately became one of the organization's most effective tools for sharing information about AIDS.

Larry Kramer, the playwright and gay rights activist who was one of the six founders of Gay Men's Health Crisis in 1982, became a friend of Rodger McFarlane's, describing that by the time of his death, "the GMHC is essentially what he started: crisis counseling, legal aid, volunteers, the buddy system, social workers" as part of an organization that serves more than 15,000 people affected by HIV and AIDS.

In December 1983, when GMHC was housed in rundown brownstone and served 250 people with AIDS, Rodger McFarlane lamented the inequitable treatment of gays by society at large, noting how "We were forced to take care of ourselves because we learned that if you have certain diseases, certain lifestyles, you can't expect the same services as other parts of society".

Rodger McFarlane was one of the founding members of the New York branch of ACT UP.

Rodger McFarlane served as president of Bailey House, a not-for-profit organization that provides shelter for homeless people with AIDS.

Rodger McFarlane served as the executive director of the Gill Foundation from 2004 until 2008, an LGBT organization founded by Tim Gill and based in Denver that which provides grants and operating support for not-for-profit and community foundations.

Rodger McFarlane lived in Manhattan for many years with his brother David, helping take care of him before his death due to AIDS in 2002.

Shortly before his death, Rodger McFarlane wrote the afterword for Kramer's book The Tragedy of Today's Gays.

Rodger McFarlane left a letter in which he indicated that he could no longer continue dealing with heart and back problems, which followed a broken back in 2002.