Husband of 9/11 hero returns award after Caitlyn Jenner receives the same honour
Moira Smith lost her life rescuing people trapped inside the Twin Towers
The husband of a 9/11 hero has returned his late wife’s Glamour Woman of the Year Award after Caitlyn Jenner won the same honour.
The I Am Cait Star, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, won the coveted award from Glamour last week 14 years after policewoman Moira Smith was posthumously honoured by the magazine.
Moira was 38 years old when she lost her life when she repeatedly ran back inside Tower Two in New York to try and rescue those trapped inside.
In an impassioned open letter posted on Facebook, her husband James Smith – also a police officer – hit out at the magazine’s decision to honour a transgender woman.
He wrote: "I was shocked and saddened to learn that Glamour has just named Bruce Jenner 'Woman of the Year.'
"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 and fire fighters 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?”
A spokesperson for Glamour magazine defended their decision to award Caitlyn Jenner with the prestigious gong.
"We were proud to honour his wife... in 2001, and we stand by our decision to honour Caitlyn Jenner,” they said.
"Glamour's Women of the Year Awards recognise women with a variety of backgrounds and experiences."