Michael Rogers (activist) - Activism

Activism

Rogers has been an activist and spokesperson in the LGBT community. In the mid 1980s he was President of the LGBT Student Association (then GLOBE: Gays, Lesbians or Bisexuals for Equality) of the University of Buffalo. In 1985 he became the first board member representing youth clients on the Board of Directors of Gay and Lesbian Youth of Buffalo (Now Gay and Lesbian Youth Services of Western New York). From 1986 to 1989, Rogers served on the Board of the Buffalo and Niagara chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

After moving to New York City In 1989, Rogers joined the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP!). He, along with fellow Hetrick-Martin employee Ann Northrop, was arrested for participating in ACT-UP!'s Stop The Church protest at St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1989. Both Rogers and Northrop faced the possibility of losing their jobs because of their participation. Both remained at the agency.

In 1993, Rogers founded a national network of fundraisers at LGBT organizations.

In 2002, Rogers founded Stop The Box, his first internet activism effort. The "Box," refers to a 20 ft. wide, 10 ft. height and 8 ft depth unattended structure that houses an automatic convenience store. The box, a prototype, was owned by Tik Tok Easy Shop. Rogers created a 5-page website and organized organized residents living near the box. He coordinated protests and education campaigns about the"box." Rogers also made the discovery that the Tik Tok Easy Shop company was a wholly owned subsidiary of the McDonald's Corporation. Rogers discovered that at the time the internet domain registration for tiktokeasyshop.com was McDonald's.

In 2003, Rogers founded FixTheBricks.blogspot.com, a website created to encourage local business to take responsibility for the public spaces around their establishments. In the Adams-Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC, Rogers was successful in obtaining improvements to sidewalks and tree boxes.