9/11 is remembered through images of unimaginable destruction, but 25 years later, the stories of the people who ran toward danger remain just as powerful. Among them were two gay men from very different worlds: a Catholic priest who served New York firefighters and a rugby player who helped fight back against hijackers aboard Flight 93.
Their lives, and their final acts, remain part of the LGBTQ+ community’s history.
0001: Father Mychal Judge Ran Toward the Ruins
Father Mychal Judge was a Franciscan friar and Catholic priest who served as chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. On September 11, 2001, after learning that the World Trade Center had been attacked, Judge rushed from St. Francis of Assisi Church toward the site.
He prayed over victims in the streets before entering the North Tower lobby, where an emergency command post had been established. There, he continued offering prayers, comfort, and support to firefighters, rescuers, the injured, and those who had died.
At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed. Debris was hurled into the North Tower lobby, killing Judge and others inside. His body was later carried from the building by firefighters, an NYPD lieutenant, an EMT, and a civilian. The resulting photograph became one of the most recognizable images of the attacks.
Fr. Mychal Judge prayed in the lobby of the North Tower as tragedy unfolded above him.
He was later identified as the first official death of the September 11 attacks. pic.twitter.com/QxRLC1XAhK
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) September 11, 2026
Judge was designated Victim 0001 on 9/11.
His sexuality was not widely known during his lifetime, but after his death, friends and associates spoke publicly about the fact that he was gay. He was also a longtime member of Dignity, an organization advocating for LGBTQ+ Catholics. Judge challenged the church’s teachings on homosexuality and questioned the idea of discriminating against people because of whom they loved.
READ: FACT CHECK: Trump Says He Was Carried by “Big Strong” Firefighters During 9/11
Mark Bingham Fought Back on Flight 93
Across the country, another gay man was facing the hijackers from inside United Airlines Flight 93.
Mark Bingham was a public relations executive, entrepreneur, and accomplished rugby player. Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing around 225 pounds, an image that broke stereotypes about gay men at the time, he played for the San Francisco Fog RFC, a gay-inclusive rugby club.
Bingham had come out as gay at 21. On 9/11, he was traveling aboard Flight 93 when passengers learned through phone calls that other hijacked planes had already been used as weapons.
Bingham was among the passengers who organized an attempt to retake the aircraft. Alongside fellow passengers including Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett, and Jeremy Glick, he helped launch the effort against the hijackers.
Flight 93 ultimately crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, preventing the hijackers from reaching their intended target in Washington, D.C.
Bingham was 31.
Remembering Them Beyond the Tragedy
In the years since 9/11, Judge and Bingham have become part of the larger record of American heroism. For LGBTQ+ people, their stories also carry another significance.
They were not heroes because they were gay. They were heroes who happened to be gay.
Judge’s life of service and Bingham’s final act of resistance offer two very different pictures of courage: one rooted in compassion and the other in physical defiance.
Both ran toward danger when others were trying desperately to escape it.
And both deserve to be remembered even after 9/11.