NLGJA Responds to Attack

I got this e-mail from a fellow NLGJA member a few minutes ago. Although Ryan Smith's condition has been upgraded, it's the first time I'm hearing "brain damage" instead of "brain injury," which is horrifying news to. I'm not a doctor, but damage sounds permanent to me whereas injury sounds like something you can recover from.

Journalists Attacked on Vacation in St. Maarten Apparent Victims of Gay Bashing

The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) today extends wishes for a speedy recovery to two journalists attacked while on vacation in the Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

NLGJA member Dick Jefferson, 51, and Ryan Smith, 25, both journalists with CBS News in New York, were outside a bar with several friends April 6, when three men started hitting them with tire irons.

The men were airlifted to Miami for medical treatment. Jefferson has since been released, and says that Smith has since been moved from intensive care. Jefferson says that Smith was severely beaten and his doctors believe he may have suffered brain damage.

Jefferson, a senior broadcast producer for CBS' national evening news, said the attackers yelled anti-gay slurs at his friends earlier in the evening. He plans to return to St. Maarten Friday to meet with the US Consul General and local authorities, in an effort to advance the investigation.

He also hopes both mainstream and LGBT media report this story, which he feels could be of concern to tourists, both LGBT and straight, who visit the island each year.

Jefferson says: "I love the people of St. Maarten. But this is their problem, not my problem. Tourists will stay away until someone saves this island."

The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) is an organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students who work within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace bias and provides professional development to its members.