Background
Barry Thomas Rogers, who was known to friends as "J.T.," was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, the son of J.T. and Connie Rogers, and raised in a conservative Baptist home.
Barry Thomas Rogers, who was known to friends as "J.T.," was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, the son of J.T. and Connie Rogers, and raised in a conservative Baptist home.
He attended Gilead Christian Academy, a Christian high school in Macon, Georgia and the fundamentalist Bob Jones University (BJU) in Greenville, South Carolina. Rogers was expelled from the university midway through his senior year when he chose to come out.
Christian upbringing He had a Celtic cross tattooed above his right biceps, clearly visible in all his pornographic films. Rogers had minor roles in films outside of the gay porn industry. He was an extra in the made-for-television movie Unconquered, was twice a contestant on The Dating Game (winning once), and appeared on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon as a Jerry Lewis impersonator.
Gay porn star In 1988, Rogers moved to California and worked for more than a decade in the gay pornography industry, often making films for Chi Chi LaRue.
He also was employed at Drakes Melrose, Pier One Imports, and worked as a barback for the Atlanta club, "The Metro". He moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999 and tried stand-up comedy, but he struggled financially.
After being diagnosed as Human Immunodeficiency Virus-positive, he continued to make pornographic films, working with Atlanta-based producer Dick Wadd to make hardcore and bareback sex films. Suicide Rogers suffered from chronic depression, and lived with both Human Immunodeficiency Virus and hepatitis.
He committed suicide on 7 November 2004 by hanging himself with wire on the fence of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
A suicide note complained of his frustration at not being able to receive assistance from Social Security.
