The great equalizer: in the aftermath of 9/11, The Advocate Grappled with the question of how to cover our stories--and whether we should even cover them at all.

September 11 fell on a Tuesday in 2001, just as it does this year, six years later. Then--Advocate editor in chief Judy Wieder called ali the Los Angeles-based editorial staffers and told us to stay home that day--as if any of us could have tom ourselves away from the horrific images on TV--because of fears that planes were headed for high-rise buildings in LA. too. (We were then located in an office tower on Hollywood Boulevard, across the street from Grauman's Chinese Theater, certainly one of LA.'s more high-profile neighborhoods.)

As we gathered for our 10 A.M. editorial staff meeting on September 12--ali of us shell-shocked, really, still trying to process the news-it became immediately apparent that we had to respond in some way to the momentous events of the previous day in the pages of our magazine. But how? In the whole scheme of things, did it really matter what the sexual orientation was of the thousands who died that day or the thousands more who were assisting in rescue and recovery efforts? Would such efforts to track down gay and lesbian victims and heroes of the terrorist attacks be perceived as a trivialization--as in, "Who the hell cares what the 'gay angle' is? Isn't everyone equally affected by this life changing tragedy?"

But as we debated the issue that morning--knowing for certain that our planned cover story with a postEllen Anne Heche, intriguing as it was, would have to be postponed we came to the consensus that if members of our LGBT family were in any way a part of 9/11, we had to find them. As Judy Wieder wrote so eloquently in her Letter From the Editor in Chief for the Gay Heroes issue, "If gays and straights are equally heroic, equally vulnerable, equally courageous, equally frightened, equally lucky, equally unlucky, and just plain equally human, then why are some of us still fighting for equal rights and opportunities in this country? ... The magazine needs to tell the stories of the gay and lesbian heroes who died September 11, 2001, as equals, because if they hadn't died, they'd still be fighting for that equality."

Thus we told the stories of Mark Bingham, the rugby player who, many believe, joined other passengers on United Flight 93 in diverting that hijacked plane from its intended target; David Charlebois, the copilot at the helm of American Airlines Flight 77, which slammed into the Pentagon; Jeffrey Collman, the flight attendant who was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center; partners Ronald Gamboa and Dan Brandhorst, who, with their adopted 3year-old son, David, were on board United Flight 175 when it collided with the second trade center tower; Earol Flyzik, the gay rights advocate and former nurse who was on American Flight 11 to Los Angeles for a business trip; Graham Berkeley, the software developer and concert violinist aboard United Flight 175 for a software conference in LA.; and Father Mychal F. Judge, the fire department chaplain who died while administering last rites at ground zero.

So, to paraphrase Wieder at the end of her letter, it is with mixed feelings of great sadness and pride that we revisit an issue of The Advocate that honored the lives of these heroes and helped all of us reporting and reading their stories feel connected--and truly equal.