Out Spotlight

Today's Out Spotlight was an entrepreneur, executive, athlete and hero. The CEO of The Bingham Group, a successful public relationship firm in San Francisco and New York, he is most remembered for the heroic act he and his fellow passengers did on United Airline Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Today's Out Spotlight is Mark Bingham.

Born May 22, 1970 in Arizona, Mark Bingham grew up in California, the son of Alice Hoglan, a single mother who struggled to make ends meet. He attended Los Gatos High School and went on to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, where he helped the rugby team earn national championships in 1991 and 1993. He was a member of Chi Psi fraternity and was president of the school chapter.

A large athlete at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 225 pounds (102 kg), he also played for the San Francisco Fog RFC, a rugby union team and the city's first gay rugby team. In 2001 most of the Fog were complete novices to the game, but Mark started showing up anyway. He coached, cajoled, and crashed through their practices, and played No. 8 in their first two friendly matches. He also played in their first tournament (where he promptly dislocated his shoulder). He taught his teammates his favorite rugby songs and made them feel like we were part of something bigger than themselves.

In May 2001, as a member of the Fog, he took part in the Washington DC Renegades Invitational Tournament. Although very few in number, most of the gay rugby teams at that time took part in the tournament. It was after the tournament that Scott Glaessgen, who had been inspired by the tournament and who had been friends with Bingham since 1998, contacted Bingham about forming a gay rugby team in New York City.

The Bingham Group had recently opened a second office of his successful public relations firm in NYC and he was spending more time on the East Coast. Mark was excited about the possibility and over the summer the two men started planning the formation of a New York City team the Gotham Knights RFC.

On September 11, 2001 he boarded Flight 93 at the last minute, on his way to California to be an usher in his fraternity brother Joseph Salama's wedding.

About 20 minutes before Flight 93 went down, Bingham called his mother. “This is Mark Bingham,” were his first words. She immediately knew something was wrong. “I love you” were the last words she heard from her son. She knew if there was any way to turn tragedy into triumph, Mark would lead the charge. His mother a former flight attendant with United Airlines, later left a voice mail message on his cell phone, instructing him to reclaim the aircraft after it became apparent that Flight 93 was to be used in a suicide mission.

Bingham is believed to have been among the passengers who attempted to storm the cockpit of Flight 93 to try to prevent members of Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization, from using the plane to kill hundreds or thousands of additional victims as a part of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The 9/11 Commission concluded this heroism diverted the plane from its intended target, which was either the White House or the Capitol in Washington, and caused it to crash in an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Bingham was survived by his boyfriend of six years, Paul Holm. Holm said it wasn't the first time Bingham had risked his life to protect the lives of others. He had twice successfully protected Holm from attempted muggings, one at gunpoint.

He describes Bingham as a brave, competitive man, saying, "He hated to lose — at anything." He was even known to proudly display a scar he received after being gored at the running of the bulls in Pamplona.

U.S. Senators John McCain and Barbara Boxer honored him on September 17, 2001 in a ceremony for San Francisco Bay Area 9/11 victims, presenting a folded American flag to Holm.

The Advocate named Bingham its 2001 Person of the Year. He was posthumously awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2002. The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament, an international rugby competition predominantly for gay and bisexual men, was established in his memory.

The California Alumni Association of the University of California, Berkeley now annually awards the outstanding achievement of a young alumnus or alumna with the Mark Bingham Award for Excellence in Achievement at its Charter Gala each spring.

Singer Melissa Etheridge dedicated the song "Tuesday Morning" in 2004 to his memory

“We have the chance to be role models for other gay folks who wanted to play sports, but never felt good enough or strong enough."



" This is a great opportunity to change a lot of people’s minds, and to reach a group that might never have had to know or hear about gay people. Let’s go make some new friends…and win a few games.”