John William Fowler (19 July 195429 September 2023) was an Australian high school teacher and a mayor of the City of South Sydney.Mayor of first council to recognise gay and lesbian relationships Retrieved 18 August 2024.Costly loss for South Sydney as court rules on council turf war Retrieved 10 October 2013.

Early life and family Fowler was born in Sydney and his family lived in Wallacia when he was a child. He attended Newington College (1968–1971).Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 pp67 (Syd, 1999) In 1908, his grandfather John Fowler was appointed postmaster in the town we now know as Wallacia and he became an alderman on the Mulgoa Municipal Council.Mayoral Speech Retrieved 30 September 2023.Welcome to Ross Fowler & Co Retrieved 30 September 2023. His father Bernard Noel Fowler was an Independent Mayor of Penrith in 1956 and 1957. His older brother, Ross Fowler , was a Liberal Mayor of the same city on three occasions: 1995–1996, 2013–2014 and 2018–2020.Councillor Ross Fowler elected as Penrith Mayor Retrieved 30 September 2023.

City of South Sydney Fowler was an independent councillor for the City of South Sydney from 1989 until becoming the first non-Labor mayor in 2000. He served in that role until the mayoralty was taken back by the Labor Party in 2002. He was the first openly gay mayor in Sydney.Sth Sydney Council recognises same-sex couples Retrieved 10 October 2013. In February 2001 the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Holocaust Memorial was unveiled in Green Park in Darlinghurst. At the same time the Sydney Park AIDS Memorial Grove was also unveiled by Fowler recognising the municipality as the then heart of Sydney's gay and lesbian population.Sydney Park AIDS Memorial Groves & Reflection Area Retrieved 19 August 2024. In August 2003, South Sydney Council formally recognised gay and lesbian relationships. A similar register had been implemented by the Greater London Authority in United Kingdom but this recognition in South Sydney came 15 years before the plebiscite that recognised gay marriage in Australia.Out Gay Former Mayor Of South Sydney Dies Aged 69 Retrieved 18 August 2024.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Holocaust Memorial

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