UPDATE! "STOP THE STOMPING!" - Support Cody Rodgers - Oklahoma Teen Facebook against Gay-Bashing Hate Crimes!!

This isn't a story about Iselin, it's a story from Oklahoma.  But it really made me mad, so I figured I'd share it.  I'm hoping that people from around here will also support this kid, and others like him.  I think we're more open and accepting around here now-a-days... is that true, or not true?

Anyway...

A facebook page was started by an Oklahoma Teen, Cody Rodgers, who was beat up because he was  gay.  This is what he writes on the page, which you can find on facebook by clicking HERE:

HELP STOP THE STOMPING!

This page was created to spread out the awareness that gay-bashing, and hate-crimes are still to this day, violent, and laws need to change to protect everyone! This is my personal story!

It all started at a fair-well party thrown on a Saturday evening. A few friends, myself included, were upstairs, while the party was downstairs. Inappropriate derogatory terms began to be heard from downstairs, and the gentlemen using the slurs were asked to leave. At first they complied, but then one charged back into the apartment. At that point, tension was high, and the group as escorted to the parking lot by the tenant of the apartment, a 21 year old girl. At that point, things became violent, and she was assaulted, and I wasn't going to let her get hurt for taking up for me, being a gay man. So I stepped in front of her, and told him to keep his hands off of her. At that point, I was thrown to the ground, kicked, and beaten until I was unconscious. As I came to, I was being pulled towards the apartment, and that is where the "many time shared" photograph of me was taken. This is my story, and I hope nobody ever has to experience what I did. I would do it again in a heart-beat to save a women from a man's hands, but being assaulted and hospitalized, was uncalled for. I, as an Oklahoman, believe that some type of law should be in place to classify types of crimes like this as more than a "simple-assault", rather a Hate Crime. In Oklahoma, race, color, religion, ethnicity, family status, and disabilities are all classified as a "Hate Crime", but not sexual orientation! That is what needs to change! ♥

 Head over to facebook to support this teen.  NO MORE HATE!

UPDATE... Here is a video of a news cast from the area, for those who may believe that Cody is faking it. In my opinion, I really don't think it was faked. I think sometimes it's just easier to blame the victim; haven't you seen this time and again? It's easier for weak people to blame the victim of a crime than it is to say "This has got to stop." But that's just wrong. It's time to stand up and say "THIS HAS GOT TO STOP."




Change.org has a petition up, which you can sign if you go HERE. It states:

"Oklahoma is one of nineteen states where members of the GLBT community are not a protected class of people. Beating a person for being gay is not considered a hate crime in this state it is merely an assault. If members of the glbt community were protected this act would be a felony. Cody Rogers knows all to well that we are not protected he was beaten this past week in Tulsa, Oklahoma because he is gay. Not just for Cody but for all of us this law should change."