ISBL Asshat—and Transphobe—of the Week: Derick Dillard

Derick Dillard; don’t know him? Well, he married into a family that made its name by the number of children its matriarch popped out, as though that’s some kind of achievement.

Yup, he’s Duggar-adjacent; he’s also a transphobic asshat who bullies teenagers online, which is a lovely Christian thing to do.

See, Derick—drop the ‘e’ and the ‘r’ and he’s just a dick—is the son-in-law of 19 Kids and Counting having-children-for-a-paycheck family, the Duggars, and stars on its spin-off show Counting On which is about illiterate rightwingnut Christian extremists spreading their seed into their wives and having children they can ill-afford unless they sell their lives to reality TV, decided to go after 16-year-old Jazz Jennings, trans activist, because, wait for it, she’s getting a reality show too:

“What an oxymoron... a "reality" show which follows a non-reality. ‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it's ordained by God.”

Um, asshat, perhaps you should—ALLEGEDLY and I’m just basing it on the way you look—lay off the meth and think that, since you believe in God, and God created all things, maybe God created gender fluidity to give ignorant folks like yourself a lesson in, oh I dunno, not judging other people?

And if God didn’t come for you, Twitter certainly did, asking how Christ-like it is it to bully a teenage girl; and Dillard replied:

“I want to be clear. I have nothing against him. I only have issue with the words and definitions being propagated here.”

First off, you fucking bigot, it’s ‘her’; learn a lesson. And for someone who is living off the coins they earn because they can impregnate a woman, who grew up in a family that made a career out of impregnating women—which borders closely to sex trafficking when you think about it—when they weren’t trying to protect their child molester son from “duggaring” his sisters and their friends, you have no stones to throw.

This kind of intolerance, masked as Christianity, infuriates me, and then I read how Jazz Jennings, herself, responded:

“Every day I experience cyber-bullying, but I keep sharing my story. Today was no different.”

Simple; and with those simple words, she shut down a cyber bully ... well, maybe he had to go impregnate his wife again because they need a new washer and dryer.

Derick ‘The Dick’ Dillard; Asshat—and Transphobe—of the Week.

LGBTQ Nation

When Conservatives Threaten School For Reading Book About A Transgender Girl, The Community Response Was Perfect

A few weeks ago, out in Wisconsin, the Mount Horeb Area School District announced that the Primary School now had a transgender student and so classes would be reading I Am Jazz, a children’s book based on the real life experiences of teenage trans superstar Jazz Jennings.

And Jazz Jennings applauded the school administrators:

“Growing up transgender can be a challenging experience, and we need our parents, schools, and friends to stand by us so we can breathe easily. We want the same thing — to be who we are and feel safe and supported in this world.”

All well and good, until the Hate Group, AKA the Liberty Counsel — infamous for its representation of Kentucky Kounty Klerk Kim Davis — threatened a lawsuit on behalf of a few upset parents.

The district canceled the reading.

But last week, the community countered the cancellation by hosting a public reading of I Am Jazz for the nearly 600 people who crammed into the Mount Horeb public library , including a 72-year-old who “came here to learn” and a 4-year-old eager to be friends with the transgender student, who she did not even know. And I Am Jazz co-author Jessica Herthel even flew in to perform the reading.

The event sent a very clear message as to where the community stood. And so, this week, the Mount Horeb School Board unanimously passed a series of new measures to accommodate transgender students throughout the district; the measures include access to restrooms and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity.

Though a few parents objected during the meeting’s open comment period, their concerns did not resonate with the board.

“Let the word go forth here and now that this board will stand united and we will not be intimidated and we will teach tolerance and will be accepting to everyone.” — Board member Peter Strube

Though the family is protecting the identity of the transgender 6-year-old, her mother thanked the board and said she is glad to be part of the school district and hopes the measures help many other trans children too.

The march goes on … one school, one mind, at a time.

Think Progress