I thought that the Bingham Cup was just a gay-rugby-tournament. I did not have a clue about the background. It was when I first tried to find a nice poster on the internet for the tournament, when I stumble over the origin of the cup, and who Mark Bingham was.

You must been off the planet for some decades not to be aware about 9/11. Except for plane crashes and destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, and the crash at Pentagon, there also was “United Airlines Flight 93”. The plane was hijacked by terrorists and the target was to crash the plane into some government building in Washington D.C. But they failed, thanks to Mark Bingham and two other passengers who stopped the terrorist and let the plane crashed on a field, near Shanksville in Pennsylvania.

We do not know how many lives Mark and the other two passengers saved by letting the plane crashed in field instead of Washington D.C.?! We could only speculate.

Mark Bingham was homosexual and a player in San Francisco Fog RFC, a gay-rugby team. 2002 was the first Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament, or just Bingham Cup, to honor him.

The first tournament had only 8 teams. Two years later, the tournament was in London and grown to 20 teams. Today, there are several series and even a women series in Bingham Cup. STHLM BERSERKERS RUGBY will participate for the first time at Bingham Cup in Manchester.

Mark Bingham was a hero on “Flight 93” there is no questions about that. But I cannot start thinking what if he never dared to come out of the closet as gay. Would he be playing rugby? Would he even have the confidence to overpower the hijackers on the “Flight 93”?

What if US had the similar laws like the have in St. Petersburg (Russia), were homosexual people are oppressed?! Would American citizens in that scenario and who are gays, have enough self-confidence to be heroes?! I do not think so! They should probably feel bad about them self all the time and never have the slightest thought of doing something heroic?!

To come out as a gay and be accepted and respected for what you are and who you are, is crucial for gay-people if they ever going to have any self-confidence at all. So instead of worrying all the time what people thinks about you if they now that you prefer men instead of women, you should think of positive things in life that make you grow as a individual, so you got better self-confidence and so you maybe one day you dare to do something, unselfish heroic and maybe making the world a better place.

Sometimes, I think that people forgetting that homosexuals are people too?! And people can be soldiers, teachers, rugby-players, leaders or heroes. Like Mark Bingham.

Bingham Cup may be just another gay-sport event for some people, but for me it is a rugby-tournament for bi- and homosexual people who have a great potential to be heroes. Hero just for a game, a day or for a lifetime.

"Walk like a man" - trailer of a documentary about Bingham Cup

Youtube clips about Mark Bingham

NOTE: Mark Kendall Bingham (1970-2001).