Watching the dvd "CNN:America Remembers 9/11" I went back to that awful day in our history. I still have a very clear memory of it. As I watched the smoke and ash arise across the city, I thought to myself "Why would anybody do this?". "People will never forget this day. Things are going to change in this country" I thought, and then I cried. On that day, people were horrified to see others leaping from the towers to meet a fate hopefully less horrible than the one they would meet if they remained. No one was thinking "God, I hope that's a homosexual". No one was thinking "Good. Perverts should all die." We were all thinking "God, how can this have happened here?"     Well, it seems I was right. The country did change. It changed right back to business as usual -- condemning all but the ones responsible. Only three years later, we have proclamations of "The gay agenda," "perverts are worth nothing," "they are not normal" and "the moral fiber of society unraveling" Only three years ago, our president promised us vindication, from those who wished us dead. We have yet to see the results of that promise. We see only signs of persecution from within. Last time I checked, Osama Bin Laden was not gay.     The collapse of the Twin Towers may have been just awful in Kansas or Ohio, but there is no comparison for those across the river that had to smell death in the air for the days following, who lost loved ones and friends of loved ones and who knew that this tragic event that took place was only miles away.     So, in the future, before you think about condemning you fellow countrymen, posting love letters entitled "perverts should die" and "Gays are filth", I ask that you take yourself back to your thoughts on that day. The day when we were one. The day we were all a little nicer to each other. The day we forgot our differences all cried together.     If we can look past our differences and have the same love that brought us together on that bad day, then this country would be alot better off. That is what equality is about. It came out of us because deep down we know that, no matter who we are, that is what makes this country strong.     Mark Bingham, 31, a Gay passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania, helped to thwart the plane's hijackers. September 16 is officially designated Mark Bingham Day in San Francisco. (September 11, 2001: Gay Victims and Gay Heroes) * close this window * go back to the website