Mark Bingham was a 31-year-old gay Californian who found himself aboard one of the doomed flights of September 11, 2001.

He became a national hero when, with others aboard United Airlines flight 93, he prevented the aircraft reaching the terrorists’ target, thought to be the Capitol building in Washington, DC. Through their efforts, the plane crashed in open country near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, saving the lives of hundreds of others.

Gays in California cast around to find a fitting memorial. They found it in the sport he loved – rugby. So was born the Bingham Cup, a biennial rugby tournament for gay men and women which has become an international event. Teams from up to 30 countries take part.

In Dublin earlier this month, the Sydney Convicts retained the trophy against opposition from the US, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK and Ireland.

The Convicts sent two teams to Dublin, where Convicts 1 defeated the London-based Kings Cross Steelers, the world’s first gay rugby club.

And it was a convincing 18 to 3 victory.

The Convicts first won the Bingham Cup in 2006, defeating the San Francisco Fog in New York.

And it’s the New York tournament that is the subject of an uplifting documentary, Walk like a Man, to be aired on SBS Tuesday, July 22 at 7.30pm.

The program, directed and produced by New York-based award-winners, Patricia Zagarella and Jim Morrison, challenges traditional perceptions about masculinity.

These Bingham Cup participants are as passionate, skilled and committed to their sport as any straight rugby club.

Zagarella and Morrison are fascinated by issues of identity. They were equally intrigued when they learned about the Bingham Cup. A concept that started in 2002 with only 8 teams, had exploded to 30 in just four years. What was going on?

As they started looking for answers, the questions became more complex, revealing unexpected directions.

Not only did the Bingham Cup challenge the usual perceptions of gays in sport and the concept of traditional masculinity and how gay sportsmen fit (or don’t fit) into that, but the tournament proved to be a kind of surrogate family and a support network.

There’s Aussie Luke, subject to years of sexual abuse, finally being able to learn to trust men again; there’s American Buck, once a star footballer, who gave up his sport because he believed it was irreconcilable with being gay. And there’s the fearless Annah, the diminutive (by rugby standards) lesbian who’s a flanker for the San Francisco Fog. She may be trying to find a life outside the oppressive religious views of her family.

Walk like a Man, narrated by Australia’s first openly out gay rugby player, Ian Roberts, demolishes old stereotypes as surely as the players themselves do.

And there’s Mark Bingham’s mum, Alice Ann Hoglan, who was there in New York to cheer on EVERY team, and to present the trophy.

For gay men and women, Walk like a Man presents a challenge to break-down barriers, to set goals and to win, even if your team loses.

It sends a strong message: anything is possible, if you believe in yourself.

Walk like a Man, SBS at 7.30pm, Tuesday, July 22