Rogers joined Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Lincoln City, Florida, and was ordained a pastor as a young man.

"[4] After high school, Rogers joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at the University of Florida and then accepted a commission in the United States Army upon graduation with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion in 1995.

Rogers also attended events supporting the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), which works to end the DADT policy.

[7] Rogers expressed his opinion on the "don't ask don't tell" (DADT) policy in his Master's thesis, written in 2005 shortly before he was deployed to Iraq and reportedly killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) while on foot patrol: "Today's current policy on gays in the military seems to rest on many faulty assumptions—namely that homosexuals will jeopardize unit cohesiveness.

Denying service members the right to serve freely and openly violates basic dignity and respect of the human experience and puts our national security at risk.

Friends organized a send-off party in his honor on July 14, 2007, held at the Fabulous Bed & Breakfast in northwest Washington, D.C.[citation needed] Rogers's commanding officer in Iraq was Col. Thomas Fernandez.

[13] About 200 people attended the service, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, Army Lt. Gen. John F. Kimmons, active duty military, both enlisted and officers, Rogers's friends and family from Florida, and Rogers's friends in northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C.[14] Also in attendance were a dozen or more gay active-duty military personnel.

[citation needed] The Post and NPR reports coincided with the "grim milestone" that the U.S. military death toll reached 4,000 dead.

[14] Rogers's death and funeral gained further media attention when it was revealed that he was gay and worked to end the military's DADT policy.

[6] The Washington Blade reported on the Post's decision to change the story and included more details about Rogers's activities and friends in the LGBT community.

[12] On March 31, 2008, an anonymous attempt was made to remove information relating to Rogers's sexual orientation from the present Wikipedia article.

The story quotes Colonel Mike Hardy, who worked with Major Rogers at the Pentagon, as saying, "He did not make any moves to be remembered as a gay soldier.

Those were confirmed in July 2011 by President Barack Obama, the Secretary of Defense, and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and repeal took effect on September 20, 2011.