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Duggar In-Law Attacks Jazz Jennings in Transphobic Tweet

Derick Dillard

The son-in-law of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar went after a 16-year-old on Twitter.

Members of the Duggar family, the subjects of TLC's reality series Counting On, have been proudly transphobic in the past, but now Derick Dillard, who is married to Jill Duggar, went after trans teen Jazz Jennings in a tweet, reports E! Online.

Responding to a promo for Jennings's TLC reality series, I Am Jazz, Dillard, 28, wrote an offensive anti-trans tweet about 16-year-old Jennings's show and trans people in general.

It's not shocking that Dillard, whose parents-in-law are Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, fundamentalist Christians who are famous merely for having had 19 kids, would be transphobic. The family openly campaigned against an LGBT rights ordinance in their home state of Arkansas for which Michelle Duggar recorded a robocall that had her suggesting trans people are predators. But what is completely unforgivable is that TLC has continued to give the family a platform on its network. Regarding Dillard's disgusting tweet, a spokesperson simply told Us Weekly, "Derick Dillard's personal statement does not represent the views of TLC."

If active campaigning against LGBT rights and perpetrating lies about transgender people weren't enough to persuade TLC to stop featuring the family, the fact that Josh Duggar (the eldest son of the ever-expanding brood) was found to have molested young girls when he was a teen should have been. In 2015, 19 Kids and Counting was canceled, but the network has continued to showcase the Duggars with the spin-off Counting On, focusing some of the now-grown offspring.

Thursday afternoon Jennings responded to Dillard's tweet with humanity and class that he failed to show her.

Many people on Twitter have offered support to Jennings while calling Dillard out for his hateful views. Meanwhile, TLC apparently intends to continue offering transphobes a place on the network.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.