Moira Smith was an undisputed hero after the 9/11 attacks.
The 38-year-old police officer lead over 100 injured and bleeding people out of the World Trade Centre, one-by-one, until the building collapsed, burying her beneath its rubble in the process. She was the only female among 23 New York City Police Department Officers to lose their lives that day.
Appropriately, a few months later, Glamour Magazine named Smith “Woman of the Year.”
Now, fourteen years later, Smith’s husband has decided to return his late wife’s award – because of Caitlyn Jenner.
In an open letter to Glamour’s editor-in-chief, Cyndi Lieve, James Smith said that he had decided to give back the award because of the magazine’s recent decision to grant Caitlyn Jenner the same honour. Jenner, of course, has only publicly identified as a female for less than a year. According to Smith, she isn’t deserving of such an honour, despite her widespread praise as a game-changer for the transgendered population.
“I was shocked and saddened to learn that Glamour has just named Bruce Jenner ‘Woman of the Year,'” Smith wrote (note the use of Jenner’s pre-transition name). “Was there no woman in America, or the rest of the world, more deserving than this man? At a time when we have women in the armed forces fighting and dying for our country, heroic doctors fighting deadly diseases, women police officers and firefighters putting their lives on the line for total strangers, brave women overcoming life threatening diseases…the list of possibilities goes on…is this the best you could do?”
James Smith/Facebook
He blamed the magazine for using the Jenner hype to generate publicity (and subsequently dollars) for the publication.
“I can only guess that this was a publicity stunt meant to resuscitate a dying medium,” he writes. “After discussing this slap in the face to the memory of our Hero with my family, I have decided to return Moira’s award to Glamour magazine.”
The award was subsequently FedExed back to Glamour.
The publication defended their decision to recognize Jenner in a statement to the New York Post:
“We were proud to honor his wife…in 2001, and we stand by our decision to honor Caitlyn Jenner,” the spokeswoman said. “Glamour‘s Women of the Year Awards recognize women with a variety of backgrounds and experiences.”
The publication named Jenner “The Trans Champion” at an awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall last week. She was among some pretty powerful company too; other honorees included ballerina Misty Copeland and actor Reese Witherspoon.
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