Biographies of People Who Have Always Been Here, PRIDE edition (the “missing” Sunday post) June 29, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, First Nations, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Love, Mathematics, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: "Impossible" People, 2S, 44, 988, Alan Beaven, Alan Hart, Alan Turing, Alice Anderson, Amisha Padnani, Bayard Rustin, Beau Brink, Brohny Doyle, Carl Seante Mcgrier, Caster Semenya, Cee Cee Ross-Lyles, DeLesslin George-Warren, Dr. Alan Hart, Ed Patton, gender, George Orwell, Gil Scott-Heron, Gladys Bentley, Gordon Brown, Haleema Shah, history, Honor Elizabeth Wainio, Jade Novah, Jean-yves G. Ducornet, Jeanne Thornton, Jeremy Glick, Jim Wilson, Jimmy Wheeler, John Kenley, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jones, Keala Settle, Kofi A. Owusi-ofori, Lana Wachowski, Laverne Cox, lgbt, lgbtq, LGBTQIA+, Lilly Wachowski, Lily Gladstone, Linda Gronlund, Lou Nacke, Mark Bingham, Marsha P. Johnson, Melissa Etheridge, Melody McKiver, MLK, Muxe, Neverending Nina, PRIDE, queer, Rich Guadagno, Robert Allen Bamford Jr, Sally Ride, Sandra Bradshaw, Sewell Chan, sex, sexuality, Shorty Harris, Stormé DeLarverie, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Terri Rogers, The New York Times Obituaries Desk, The Wachowskis, Thomas Edward Burnett Jr., Todd Beamer, Todrick Dramaul Hall, Todrick Hall, transgender, Two Spirit, United Nations, Val Andrews, William Cashman
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone!!
This is a “missing” post for Sunday, June 29th. This post includes passing references to sex, gender, sexuality, and to incidents of terrorism and of homophobia. Also, note that at least one of the embedded links directs you to YouTube. My gratitude for your patience if you came to the Zoom practice and my apologies for not posting this earlier. You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
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“Now you cannot change this
You can’t erase this
You can’t pretend this is not the truth”
— quoted from the song “Tuesday Morning” by Melissa Etheridge (written by Melissa Etheridge and Jonathan Taylor)
Since this is the last weekend of June, some people are celebrating PRIDE (and some people who are celebrating PRIDE are also bringing awareness to men’s mental health, since June is dedicated to both). I mentioned, yesterday, that this year hits / feels different to me because the days and dates coincide exactly with the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. So, obviously, I shared bits of PRIDE’s backstory and offered a brief history of the Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall Uprising — which included gay people, lesbians, bisexual people, transgender people, queer (and questioning) people, intersex people, asexual people (ace), aromantic people (aro), demi-sexual people, non-binary people, and a whole lot of other people. My catch-all “a whole lot of other people” includes straight people; because, allies have always been part of PRIDE.
Sadly, haters — in all categories — have also always been part of the story.
And there’s the other reason this year hits hard for a lot of people: because there are people in power who want to strip people within the LGBTQIA+ community of their civil rights, their humanity, their identity, their history, their hope, and their joy. While, a lot of people get distracted (positively and negatively) by the PARTY that is PRIDE, aspects of PRIDE have always been about maintaining / retaining civil rights and humanity as well as giving people an opportunity to define themselves while also sharing history, hope, and joy.
So today, as this month’s PRIDE celebrations are coming to a close, I wanted to go a little deeper into the history and share the true stories of some people you may not know were/are in the community.
“It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience – it wasn’t no damn riot!”
— Stormé DeLarverie
Just to clarify, I talk about people within the LGBTQIA+ community throughout the year. Sometimes, I mention their sexuality and/or their identity; but, sometimes I don’t — because, honestly, it’s often the least interesting thing about the people I highlight throughout the year. The same can be said about the people I am highlighting today. In most cases, their identity and/or sexuality is only notable because of the times in which the lived (and often thrived, despite the sociopolitical climate in which they lived).
So, why not highlight these people throughout the year?
Honestly, there’s just too many things and people I would like to highlight.
Some of these people I’ve struggled to figure out days when I can squeeze them all in. This year, this became the day (because of the last person I am highlighting).
“So what do we do when they say our love is forbidden
And what if I don’t wanna pray our love is forgiven
I’m willing to fight every day of life that I’m given
You’re a rule that I’m willing to break
An exception I’m willing to make
You’re a risk that I’m willing to take”
— quoted from the song “Forbidden” by Todrick Hall, featuring Jade Novah & Keala Settle (written by Carl Seante Mcgrier, Jean-yves G. Ducornet, Todrick Dramaul Hall, Kofi A. Owusi-ofori)
Most of the people on today’s list are people I have never mentioned in class (or on the blog). However, the first person I highlighted is someone I have referenced — in passing — over the years. Her name is Tam O’Shaughnessy, PhD (b. January 27, 1952). She is a science teacher and an associate professor emeritus of school psychology, who researched preventive interventions for children with reading difficulties — which I find super interesting, as someone who loves to read (and is also interested in how the brain works). She is also a former professional tennis player (who played in the U.S. National Championships, now known as the U.S. Open, in 1966, 1970, and 1972.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy is the author of 12 science books for children — 6 of which she wrote with the astronaut Sally Ride, who was her life partner for 27 years. In addition to writing together, the couple co-founded the science education company Sally Ride Science at University of California, San Diego (along with Karen Flammer, Terry McEntee, and Alann Lopes).
“Gladstone calls herself ‘queer’, ‘pansexual’ and ‘straight’. ‘I can’t put a label on it,’ she says. ‘One of the big things that tipped me to my queerness is I don’t have the draw to motherhood the way a lot of women have. There was a period of my life when I thought I might be asexual because I had no sexual attraction to anybody. I had a romantic attraction to everybody but no sexual desire. Then the word “demisexual” came into play, where it’s, like, I don’t feel sexual stirring at all unless I actually care about this person, no matter who they are.’ That’s a better fit, she thinks, although she won’t say if she has a partner.”
— quoted from the April 25 2025, The Times article, entitled “Lily Gladstone: queer, pansexual or straight? I might be demisexual — The star of Killers of the Flower Moon talks about her new comedy Wedding Banquet, defining her sexuality and hanging out with Leonardo DiCaprio” by Ed Potton
Lily Gladstone (born August 2, 1986) is an actress who was raised on the Blackfeet reservation. She is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce, and European heritage and her ancestors include a Kainai Nation chief (Red Crow) and a British Prime Minister (William Ewart Gladstone). She is the first Native American to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama and the first Native American to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
To me, what is even more interesting than their awards, is the fact that they taught an image theatre acting method where the actor/sculptor molds the actors/statues through touch. This “sculpture garden”, as they called it, was part of a violence prevention program sponsored by the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center.
And, yes, I switched pronouns on you, which might be interesting when you consider the context — and the reminder that Two Spirit people (not to mention Muxe and other indigenous people who are gender non-conforming, by our modern/Western ideas) existed on this continent long before there was a United States of America (or even a set of European colonies).
“‘And in most Native languages, most Indigenous languages, Blackfeet included, there are no gendered pronouns. There is no he/she, there’s only they,’ Gladstone adds.”
“‘So Blackfeet, we don’t have gendered pronouns, but our gender is implied in our name. But even that’s not binary,’ says Gladstone….”
“‘So, yeah, my pronoun use is partly a way of decolonizing gender for myself.’”
— Lily Gladstone, quoted from the December 31, 2023, People article, entitled “Lily Gladstone on Why She Uses She/They Pronouns: A Way of ‘Decolonizing Gender for Myself’” by Eric Andersson
The musician Melody McKiver, who is featured on the playlist, is a member of the Obishikokaan Luc Seul First Nations, who shared similar sentiments in the April 12, 2017 ICT News interview “Great Videos and Music from 8 Indigenous LGBTIA and/or Two Spirit Musicians” by DeLesslin George-Warren, stating:
“‘Fundamentally, everything in my body of work is a part of my work as a 2S musician because it’s who I am’”
We like to put people in narrow boxes, but most people are not one thing. We are multifaceted and every bit of light is part of the whole. In that way, we are like a rainbow: people may see different things about us on the outside, but what shines through is coming from the same source.
Rainbows, as a symbol, show up in the world in a lot of different ways and they showed up in my childhood in multiple ways. They are a symbol of hope in the Abrahamic religions and, throughout my childhood, they also popped up as a symbol of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds coming together to fight for equality (here in the United States and in South Africa). Finally, there was that myth about a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Growing up, that leprechaun’s gold was Romantic and symbolized success and the life of one’s dreams. To me, doing what you love, loving what you do, and being successful is like finding the gold — which means we are all “chasing rainbows”. Just like Alice Anderson.
Alice Anderson (born June 8, 1897) was the founder and owner of Miss Anderson’s Motor Service (Kew Garage), the first all-women garage in Australia. She also wrote a regular motoring column for Woman’s World and once drove the smallest car in the world across the Never Never. While anyone could use the services of Miss Anderson’s garage — services that included full auto repair, chauffeuring, interstate touring trips, driving classes, and petrol stations — Alice Anderson only hired women as mechanics and professional drivers. Like those in her employment, Miss Anderson not only worked in a male-dominated industry, she wore breeches, suits, and ties.
It’s important to remember that people’s concepts of what is gender-conforming is different in different cultures and can change (within a culture) over time. For example, there was a time when “a proper man” in some European cultures wore stockings, wigs, and painted their face (as well as their nails). Similarly, Alice Anderson lived in a time and place where the things she liked to do (and the clothes she liked to wear) were, on a certain level, acceptable. Of course, that didn’t stop her mother (who was born and bred in Ireland) from disapproving of her career and life choices.
Neither did it stop Alice from inspiring generation after generation of drivers, mechanics, and entrepreneurs.
“An LGBTQ advocacy group has taken the name Alice’s Garage, and Anderson’s tie pin, engraved with same Joan of Arc-inspired motto that was stamped on her business cards—‘Qui ne risque, rien n’a rien,’ or ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained,’— is on permanent display at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia.”
— quoted from “Founder of Australia’s First All-Women Garage Alice Anderson 1897–1926” by Briohny Doyle, published in Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani and the [New York Times] Obituaries Desk
Inspiration is one of the reasons that representation matters; because it is hard to believe you can do something if you haven’t seen anyone like you do anything remotely like the thing you want to do. Without representation, certain things can feel “impossible”.
Just consider, for a moment, that there is a young ventriloquist who is very popular in this day and age. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and is sweet as a button. She looks and sounds like a southern belle, In other words, she fits some people’s stereotype of classic femininity. In interviews, she has mentioned being inspired by a particular male ventriloquist and, if you are of a certain age, maybe you can only think of a handful of male ventriloquist. However, there are some women who became famous as ventriloquist — including Terri Rogers (born May 4, 1937).
Terri Rogers and her doll, Shorty Harris, toured the world and even appeared on the HBO special Blockheads. She was also a magician — although, when it came to magic, she is remembered more for the illusions she crafted from people like David Copperfield and Paul Daniels.
Her comedy could be shocking and bawdy (the doll’s name was Cockney slang for “short arse” after all), but could also be cleaned up for shows like the ones she did at NATO headquarters. What really stood out for people, though, was the way she made you forget that she was acting and that she was also the doll. Then there was her voice. People were often struck by Terri Rogers’s her incredible vocal range. What most of those people didn’t know was that she was transgender.
“[Terri] Roger’s partner, the magician Val Andrews, once wrote that she remembered the comedian Jimmy Wheeler admonishing her audience: ‘Blimey, you don’t realize what you’ve seen and heard!’”
— quoted from “Transgender Ventriloquist and Magician Terri Rogers 1937–1999” by Jeanne Thornton, published in Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani and the [New York Times] Obituaries Desk
Terri Rogers wasn’t the first (nor the last) to perform in clothes typically associated with a different sex or gender from the one they were assigned at birth. There is a difference, however, between someone who dresses and/or performs in drag and someone who is transgender (who might also perform in drag). Consider many (if not most) actors have appeared in drag. Similarly, many politicians have dressed in drag — which makes some of them hypocrites, but that’s another story for another day.
While drag queens get a lot of attention (just as there is a lot of focus on transgender women), there are drag kings (just as there are transgender men). But, again, there is a difference. Of course, when we look back at people in history, it can be hard to tell sometimes if someone was performing in drag, transgender, or both.
For example, Gladys Bentley (born August 12, 1907) was one of the most famous entertainers of the Harlem Renaissance. Poets like Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen sang her praises. If you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, how can someone be so famous and I’ve never heard of them?” Well, she was a Black, gay/lesbian person who mostly performed sang, danced, and played the piano in a top hat and tails. She referred to herself as a woman and yet she is quoted as saying that she didn’t feel like a woman. In fact, she felt more comfortable in men’s clothes and, when necessity required it, she presented as a man.
The thing about Gladys Bentley is that she was focused on survival at a young age. She ran away from home at 16 years old — after what was essentially 16 years of rejection from most of her family members — and she got her first job as an entertainer, because she presented as a man. Later, as the government changed and laws changed, she forced herself to wear a dress to perform (and even married a man, after claiming she had married a woman). But, Gladys Bentley wasn’t as successful as an entertainer wearing dresses as she was wearing pants.
Maybe, because she wasn’t comfortable in the dresses, because she didn’t feel like herself.
“Scholars who have studied [Gladys] Bentley’s life said that the story Bentley told about being ‘cured’ in the Ebony article [‘I Am A Woman Again’, written in 1952] was likely a response to the McCarthy Era and its hostile claims that homosexuality and communism were threats to the country. [Jim] Wilson also says that Bentley, who was aging and no stranger to reinvention, was likely making deft use of the press. ‘I like to believe that Gladys Bentley had her thumb on the pulse of the time. She knew what was popular, what she could do, and what people would pay to see,’ he says.”
— quoted from the March 14, 2019 “Women Who Shaped History: A Smithsonian magazine special report” entitled “The Great Blues Singer Gladys Bentley Broke All the Rules: For the Smithsonian’s Sidedoor podcast, host Haleema Shah tells the story of an unapologetically gay African-American performer in 1920s and 30s” by Haleema Shah
The next person on the list is the second person that I sometimes mention is passing: Marsha P. Johnson, one of the people who was at Stonewall on June 28-29, 1969. She was a transgender, gay rights activist who also worked as a prostitute and (occasionally) performed in drag. While she battled with mental health issues and was often homeless, she seemed tireless when working on behalf of homeless youth and/or advocating for the healthcare of people with HIV and AIDS.
Since “transgender” was not a widely used term during much of her lifetime, Marsha P. Johnson used women’s pronouns and “referred to herself as gay, as a transvestite, or simply as a queen” (according to her Overlooked obituary written by Sewell Chan). People have describe Marsha P. Johnson as fierce and fearless and people also remember her for her grace, her whimsical nature, and her joy for life. She was all that… and a bag of chips.
Or, er, peaches.
“Johnson was also part of a drag performance group, Hot Peaches, which began performing in 1972. She told anyone who asked—including, once, a judge— that her middle initial stood for ‘pay it no mind.’ The surname came from a Howard Johnson’s restaurant where she liked to hang out.”
— quoted from “Transgender Pioneer and Activist 1945–1992” by Sewell Chan, published in Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani and the [New York Times] Obituaries Desk
Just in passing (since I’m about to quote them), I want to mention the Wachowski Sisters. Lana (born June 21, 1965) and Lilly (December 29, 1967) Wachowski are writers, directors, and producers who co-created the Matrix franchise as well as V for Vendetta (2005) and live-action Speed Racer (2008). In addition to movies and television, the siblings have also collaborated on comic books and video games. With regarded to their gender identity, they have repeatedly stated that the original Matrix (1999) movie was an allegory about how we consume information and how we form identity and understanding based on our consumption of media — and, in particular, how a person’s outward identity may or may not reflect the inward experience (and vice versa). In other words, it’s a transgender allegory that is also about waking up to reality — something a lot of people seem to have missed.
“Morpheos [to Neo]: …Remember: all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.”
— quoted from the 1999 movie The Matrix written and directed by The Wachowskis
While we are on the subject of gender identity, it’s important to remember that sex and gender (as well as gender expression) are not the same things (and not the same for everyone). Again, different countries and cultures have different expectations around sex and gender and individuals have individual experiences. Someone can be female, be a cisgender woman, and present in a very feminine (girly way) and/or in a very masculine way — simply based on what feels good and how they think they look — and they may not get the side or a double take. This is also true for other people; however, it can be more challenging for someone who is a cisgender man to present as feminine in some places.
More to the point, however, there are people who can now be identified by Western science as intersex, which is an umbrella term to describe a variety of people whose sex characteristics — including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals — “do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies”. (NOTE: The fact that Western science is constantly evolving means that there might come a day when doctors pinpoint a reason some people are transgender.)
Here, again, if you have heard of someone (on the news, on social media, or even in a book) who is intersex, there is a good chance that it was an athlete like Caster Semenya (born January 7, 1991) who, for most of her life, did not know she could be medically diagnosed as intersex. You may not, however, have heard of someone like the John Kenley (born February 20, 1906) whose atypical sex organs were identified at birth, but whose parents decided his life would be easier as a man than as a woman. Even though he was baptized in the Russian Orthodox church as a boy and served in the Merchant Marines during World War II, the American theatre producer (of Slovakian descent) never really felt comfortable as a man and reportedly spent his downtime living as a woman named Joan.
John Kenley may not have been comfortable in his own skin, but he was successful. He revolutionized summer stock by inviting celebrities (specifically television and movie stars) to star in live theatre productions. He was also the first theatre producer to desegregate a theatre in Washington, D. C.
“The ways in which trans people have been represented have suggested that we’re mentally ill, that we’re that we won’t exist. And yet here we are. And we’ve always been here.”
— Laverne Cox, quoted in the trailer for her 2020 Netflix documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
During the (live) 2025 class, I inadvertently mixed up some of the details about John Kenley with the details about Alan L. Hart (born October 4, 1890). Also known as Robert Allen Bamford Jr., Dr. Alan Hart was a physician, radiologist, tuberculosis researcher, and writer. He published over nine short stories and four novels and his revolutionary (at the time) use of X-ray photography in tuberculosis detection continues to save innumerable lives.
However, much of what he accomplished professional almost didn’t happen because he was transgender and his medical degree was issued in his birth name (with a note added to his records) — which did not match his outward appearance and effect or his name once he legally changed it.
Alan Hart was one of the first people (in the United States) to receive counseling and surgery (including a hysterectomy) with regard to his gender dysphoria. At the point (in his adulthood) that he medically transitioned, he had lived most of his life as a man and he was fortunate that his family accepted his gender identity at a very young age. He was also fortunate that, for the most part, he was able to be recognized as a boy and then a man throughout his school years. However, he did fear that his prospects were limited because how he appeared on the outside (and felt on the inside) did not match his credentials.
“Unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban. Anyone who has lived long in a foreign country will know of instances of sensational items of news — things which on their own merits would get the big headlines-being kept right out of the British press, not because the Government intervened but because of a general tacit agreement that ‘it wouldn’t do’ to mention that particular fact. So far as the daily newspapers go, this is easy to understand. The British press is extremely centralised, and most of it is owned by wealthy men who have every motive to be dishonest on certain important topics. But the same kind of veiled censorship also operates in books and periodicals, as well as in plays, films and radio. At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to say this, that or the other, but it is ‘not done’ to say it, just as in mid-Victorian times it was ‘not done’ to mention trousers in the presence of a lady. Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in the highbrow periodicals.”
— quoted from an originally unpublished introduction to Animal Farm by George Orwell
Just as there is a difference between sex and gender, there is also a difference between someone’s sex and/or gender and their sexuality. And this is a big point of contention for some folks within the community, who feel like the community is too inclusive and/or has become like a big state whose geographic regions have completely different interests, concerns, and priorities.
And yet, the same people who want to erase transgender people from history (including from the history of Stonewall) are the same people who want to ignore the fact that Bayard Rustin (born March 17, 1912) was a gay rights activist as well as the primary organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (in 1963) and the Freedom Rides, as well as one of the organizers of Southern Christian Leadership Conference — all of which provided a platform for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The same people that made it impossible for Mr. Rustin and his partner, Walter Naegle, to get married want you to ignore the fact that the couple found a creative work around so that could legally be connected and not let their sexuality overshadow their activism.
Those same people don’t want you to know that Tam O’Shaughnessy and Walter Naegle both accepted Presidential Medal of Freedom awards that were posthumously awarded to their late partners in 2013.
Those same people also don’t want you to know that the British mathematician Alan Turing, PhD (born June 23, 1912) was persecuted for being gay — even though his computer and code breaking skills accelerated the end of World War II. Using a computer called the Bombe, Dr. Turing was one of the cryptanalysts charged with deciphering the Enigma code used by Nazi Germany. In doing so, they enabled the Allied forces to evade German submarines. His success meant that he had briefings with then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill and then-President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was also the inventor of the Turing Machine and innovations in computing that are still leading to advancements in computer technology.
Now, someone may say that his persecution was really just justice for gross indecency. However, if you look at the details of his case, you will find that Dr. Turing called the police to report a burglar. When it came out he and the other victim in the crime were in a relationship, they were both charged with breaking Section 11 of the United Kingdom’s Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 69). The law, most of which has been repealed, was intended to protect women and girls. Somehow, however, it included a provision that meant a man could be charged and convicted for having a consensual romantic relationship with another man. Note: This law applied to public and private spaces and was not (necessarily) related to sexual intercourse.
In Dr. Alan Turing’s case, his security clearances were revoked, he lost his ability to continue his work with the government, he was barred from traveling to the United States and he had to undergo “chemical castration” — which was basically hormone therapy. While it was not intended to make him sterile, the therapy did make him impotent and caused his breast tissue to grow. Additionally, the British government monitored his correspondence (which he may or may not have known) and deported someone coming to visit him before they could meet.
In 2009, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown responded to the first in a series of petitions by acknowledging the the travesty of Alan Turing’s situation and offering a formal apology to “Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted, as he was, under homophobic laws….” There was, however, no pardon. More petitions and letter writing campaigns followed, which led to several bills being presented to Parliament requesting that Alan Turing be pardoned (posthumously). Despite the fact that people in the House of Lords and the House of Commons repeatedly blocked the bills, Queen Elizabeth II signed an immediate pardon for Alan Turing on December 24, 2013 and pronounced it in August 2014. The Policing and Crime Act 2017 includes a a passage referred to as the “Alan Turing law”, which pardons men who were convicted for homosexual acts that are no longer considered criminal offenses.
“44”
— can be police radio code for “suspicious person”, “aggravated kidnapping”, etc. depending on country, region, and department
In my book, as in many people’s books, Alan Turing was a hero who saved countless lives — and you can’t change that fact. Neither can you change the fact that Mark Bingham, another hero, was gay.
You may or may not know Mark Bingham (born May 22, 1970) by name. You may or may not remember his smile. However, if I mention that he died on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 — and reference United Airlines Flight 93 — you start to get the picture.
Mr. Bingham was a 6-foot, 4 inches (193 cm) tall, 225-pound (102 kg) rugby player who was interested in filmmaking and worked as a Public Relations executive. He was the owner of the Bingham Group and, since he had just opened up a satellite office in New York, he was planning to put together a rugby team so he could play on both coasts. He was running late that ill-fated Tuesday and almost the flight that was headed to San Francisco, where one of his fraternity brothers was getting married.
Mark Bingham ended up sitting next to Thomas Edward Burnett Jr., who was originally from Bloomington, Minnesota. The PR exec and the vice-president and chief operating officer of a medical devices company weren’t that far apart in age (31 and 38, respectively) and they grew up in different parts of the country. But, they probably could have had a really great conversation during their trip — even though their lives were different in some fairly obvious ways. Mr. Burnett was married and had 4 children (included a daughter he had given up adoption when he was young). Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick, sitting a few rows back, were also married with children (3 and 1, respectively). On the flip side, Mark Bingham couldn’t legally get married.
Even though their lives were different, when it became obvious that the plane had been hijacked by terrorists and that the hijacking was part of a larger plan, the four men came together and decided to retake the plane. They were the tip of the arrow; Lou Nacke, Rich Guadagno, Alan Beaven, Honor Elizabeth Wainio, Linda Gronlund, and William Cashman, as well as flight attendants Sandra Bradshaw and Cee Cee Ross-Lyles joined in the planning and became the shaft.
The four men were not able to land the plane, but they were able to prevent the hijackers from hitting their intended target — and, in doing so, they saved hundred of lives.
“And the things you might take for granted
Your inalienable rights
Some might choose to deny him
Even though he gave his life
Can you live with yourself in the land of the free
And make him less of a hero than the other three?”
— quoted from the song “Tuesday Morning” by Melissa Etheridge (written by Melissa Etheridge and Jonathan Taylor)
Even though I tell the story of 9/11 on that date, I don’t know the individual stories of all the passengers, all the people in and around the Twin Towers, all the people at the Pentagon that day, and all the first responders. For instance, I didn’t know that one of those big burly, heroic men was gay.
But now I can’t unknow it — and neither can you.
And, if you are one of those people who only thinks in stereotypes, consider this: When Todd Beamer said, “Okay. Let’s roll.”, Mark Bingham did did not back down; he did not let go.
“So you have to, at some point, start putting aside your lack of understanding and saying, like, ‘I support human rights, period. It doesn’t matter if I understand.’ Because, look, I don’t understand your experiences as a cis-person, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to withhold my support for your civil and human rights until you can explain it to me.”
— Journalist, author, artist, parent, and activist Beau Brink, interviewed in the Conspirituality podcast episode “143: Trans Reality, Trans Possibility”
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [“06292025 PRIDE, biographies”]
NOTE: The Spotify playlist includes an extra interlude track (since this message Sunday is not part of the studio recording. The YouTube playlist includes videos, at least one of which is referenced during the practice.
“When you look at me
What do you see
Am I not breathing with the same
Respiratory”
— quoted from the song “Stop Killing Us” by Neverending Nina
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
A Joyful Practice 