Last Updated on September 8, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
Gay executive and rugby player Mark Bingham lost his life while fighting back against terrorist hijackers on Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. He and other passengers worked together to prevent the hijackers from crashing the plane into a target in Washington DC, most likely the Capitol Building or the White House. Their brave actions saved many other lives.
After the hijacking began, passengers on Flight 93 called loved ones and found out that planes had already crashed into the Pentagon and New York City’s World Trade Center. Mychal Judge, chaplain to New York firefighters and unofficial “gay saint,” died helping others amid the wreckage in New York.
Bingham (May 22, 1970 – Sept. 11, 2001) and the other Flight 93 passengers realized that the hijackers planned to use their plane as a weapon in a suicide mission. He and three others stormed the cockpit to stop the terrorists from reaching their target in Washington, DC, where hundreds or thousands more victims would have been killed. Instead the plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania near Shanksville, 20 minutes away from Washington.
The other three men who joined with Bingham to try seizing control of the plane were Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick.
In addition to playing rugby, Bingham founded his own public relations firm. He was survived by his companion of eight years, Paul Holm. His story is told in the biography “Hero of Flight 93: Mark Bingham” by Jon Barrett.
Mark Bingham honored in art and music
Shortly after 9/11, artist Daniel Bissler painted a portrait of Bingham with a saintly halo and gay symbols: a rainbow stripe and the pink triangle used by Nazis to identify gay prisoners.
Lesbian rock singer Melissa Etheridge pays tribute to him in her song “Tuesday Morning.” It includes these lyrics:
Even though he could not marry
Or teach our children in your schools
Because who he wants to love
Is breaking your God’s rules
He stood up on a Tuesday morning
In the terror he was brave
And he made his choice, and without a doubt
A hundred lives he must have saved
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Top image credit:
Mark Bingham by Daniel Bissler
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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBT and queer martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.
This article was originally published on Q Spirit in September 2020, was expanded over time, and was most recently updated on Sept. 20, 2022.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.
