Following Up on Cody Rogers, LGBT Teen Attacked at Party

Cody Rogers, an 18-year-old LGBT man in Oklahoma, was brutally attacked last weekend at a party attended by friends and a few homophobes.  The story took off.  There was a silver lining to the story, as well.

Rather than tuck his tail and wilt under the attack, Cody rose to the occasion.  Rather than shrink back into the closet and lock the door, Cody was embolded.  He set up a facebook page to join the war against ignorance, intolerance, and violence against the LGBT community.  The page quickly took off.  As of this writing, it already has just under 10,000 members.  Most of them are well-wishers, some adding pictures along with the encouraging words.  It's been heartwarming watching the encouragement come literally from around the world. 

The most important thing to come from this travesty, however, is the fire that's been lit under Cody Rogers.  Met head-on with what, until last weekend, was the kind of hatred and nviolence towards the LGBT community he'd only heard of or read about, Cody is now determined to spearhead a movement of change. 

In the state he lives, Oklahoma, their federal anti-discrimination laws do not protect the LGBT community.  Because of that, his attacker was charged with the laughable crime of simple assault.  Such a ridiculous charge could possibly bring him a sentence of cleaning up trash along the highway for a weekend.  He couldn't be charged with what he should've been charged with because, in Oklahoma, it's apparently ok to hate members of the LGBT community, to be intolerant towards them, to commit acts of violence against them.  That has to be the case; otherwise, there would be laws on the book to protect them.  At the very least, they would've been included in the protection of the federal anti-discrimination laws, which would've made last week's unwarranted attack a hate crime.  Instead, incredibly, they were excluded.

Cody has started a petition to get the wheels in motion that will bring about change in his state.  Remember, this is the same state that, just a month ago, a teacher was going to fail her student for the crime of writing an essay about same-sex marriage.  Thanks to your emails, letters, and phone calls!!, that teacher had a change of heart and there was a happy ending to the story.  Now, we need those same numbers, and more!, to come to Cody Roger's aid and sign this petition!!  Before we knew there was a Cody Rogers in the world, we showed Oklahoma that there is definitely power in numbers.  I think they need a reminder.