What is wrong with Derick Dillard?!
That’s a serious question, by the way.
We’re not even talking about those mysterious health issues that some people are still convinced he has — we’re talking about the way he’s been trying to take over the title of the Worst Duggar Family Member.
He won’t be able to steal that title from Josh Duggar, obviously, but he sure is going for it.
For some reason, Derick has felt the need to bash the transgender community for the past few months now.
He kicked off his hateful campaign of transphobia by getting on Twitter and bullying Jazz Jennings, his fellow TLC reality star.
She’s also a teenage girl, so we hope Derick, who is nearly 30 years old, felt good about himself for attacking her.
After TLC tweeted a promo for Jazz’s show, he responded, writing “What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality. ‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.”
When he started getting some backlash for his tweet, he added “I want to be clear. I have nothing against him. I only have issue with the words and definitions being propagated here.”
Sure, Derick, your issue is with some words and not with a girl who is living her life in a way you don’t see fit.
A few days after that, he tweeted “It seems truth is relative these days. So glad my God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! His word is always perfect! #Hebrews13.”
Which isn’t another direct attack on Jazz and/or the entire transgender community, it seems pretty pointed.
Since then, he’s gone out of his way to make it clear that he doesn’t believe in the idea of a person being transgender — even though it’s not exactly a matter of belief, and those people exist whether or not Derick likes it.
He’s even tried to get in on a Target boycott, because of that never-ending, ridiculous bathroom issue.
And now, in a new blog he posted on the Dillard family website, he’s addressing the issue again.
“There’s been a lot of talk lately about how divisive America has become,” he began. “This isn’t new in the world; divisiveness is as old as the human race.”
“It’s not new, but it is destructive.”
It’s weird, because America is pretty divisive right now, but it’s largely because of people like Derick who feel the need to be so hateful to others.
And it’s extra weird, because Derick took that opener and turned it into a discussion about the Bill of Rights.
“No other country in history has had such progress and success as America,” he wrote. “We can thank our founding fathers for constructing a constitution that’s founded on principles of freedom, protection, justice, and truth.”
“If our generation is going to, not only benefit from, but also improve our country, we’ve got to maintain those same principles. They’re not outdated, they’re timless and are proven through time.”
Can you tell where this is going yet?
Derick asked his readers to think about the constitution when considering three big points he wanted to make.
The first being “Just because you don’t agree with someone, doesn’t mean you hate them.”
“What one thinks of someone’s idea or actions really doesn’t serve at all, to tell what they think of them personally, one way or the other,” he wrote.
“For example, I disagree with about 95% of what my son does or suggests that I do (‘Get out of the car!’ as we’re going 70mph down the highway), yet I love him dearly!”
… Seriously, he disagrees with 95% of what his son says? His two-year-old son?
That’s probably not a great sign.
“It’s not bigotry, fascism, etc… to exercise one’s right of free speech.”
Oh, that old chestnut! See, you can say whatever you want, you can be cruel and ignorant and hateful, but it’s not bigotry, it’s freedom of speech! This is America!
Of course, this argument fails to acknowledge that of course people like Derick have freedom of speech — no one is arguing that.
But being free to say the things he says doesn’t mean that he’s free from any consequences, and it doesn’t mean that we can’t call him out for being a bigot.
Because he is being a bigot.
“It’s not a problem that someone has different beliefs than you,” Derick went on, “or that they’re LGBT, or that they do anything else other than what you agree with.”
“That’s the beauty of America, that we have the freedom to make personal choices, within a civilized society of law and order. All people should be treated equally before the law, plain and simple.”
“If you do bad stuff, you should pay the consequences regardless of who you are. One’s consequences, good or bad, should be based on actions, not identity.”
… Nope, you’re still a bigot, buddy.
He also wrote that “Capitalism is great,” and “if you agree/disagree with some product/idea, you can choose not to support it or even freely encourage others to support/not support that same thing.”
And he’s right, you can do these things. For example, one could choose to boycott Target because they allow transgender people to use the appropriate bathrooms.
Again, you can do these things, but other people can then point out your bigotry.
Hilariously, he shared this blog post on his Twitter with the message “America needs unity now more than ever.”
… Why not start by not bullying teenagers then, Derick? Would that not be a unifying thing?