By now most people have at least heard about the ongoing #DefendTheDuggars conversation happening across Twitter. What you may not know is why it started - and why you definitely should not defend the Duggars.
By now most people have at least heard about the ongoing #DefendTheDuggars conversation happening across Twitter. What you may not know is why it started - and why you definitely should not defend the Duggars.
The story of the hashtag begins long before the petition to cancel the Duggars’ reality television show actually saw the light of day. For years preceding the petition, the Duggars engaged in several forms of anti-gay activism using their religious beliefs to justify their actions.
Some of their most recent actions against the LGBT community this year along include:
Josh Duggar’s participation in several rallies to oppose LGBT basic civil rights via his directorship at the Family Research Council (FRC) - a virulently anti-gay organization whose president has deep KKK ties.
The Duggar family using their reality television show notoriety on the 'Faith Family Freedom' tour to oppose LGBT rights.
Josh Duggar’s speech denigrating his own lesbian aunt.
Josh Duggar’s activism in Indiana to pass their same sex marriage ban.
That time Josh Duggar called LGBT people getting married “evil”
The Duggars’ activism against LGBT rights in Arkansas. More here.
Michelle Duggar’s robocalls to Arkansas residents. In the calls she compares transgender women to pedophiles and rages against LGBT basic civil rights. You can listen to the call here.
The Duggar family additionally spent $10,000 to oppose LGBT rights in Arkansas
That’s just recent history; LGBT activists have been tracking their anti-gay activism for several years.
Add to that their more recent partnerships with organizations like the FRC and the American Family Association and you have a recipe for religion-sanctioned prejudice. Some handy facts about the organizations they work and partner with:
The Family Research Council (FRC)
The FRC is a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). You can read up on the reasons here.The organization has a long history of demonizing LGBT people, comparing them to murderers and pedophiles, and working arduously to take away their basic civil rights.
FRC President Tony Perkins has a deep and long history supporting white supremacy including financing and speaking at their organizations.
Additionally, the FRC lobbied Congress not to condemn the Ugandan “Kill the Gay” gay death penalty legislation because they disagreed with language in the condemnation stating LGBT people deserve basic human rights. Pay particular attention to what FRC President Tony Perkins had to say about it.
The American Family Association (AFA)
The AFA is also a designated hate group by the SPLC. You can read up on the reasons here. Much like the FRC, the AFA has a long history of ridiculous comparisons including likening LGBT people to Nazis (the people, by the way, that slaughtered LGBT people during World War II).
The AFA once called for kidnapping the children of LGBT parents.
Though they claim boycotts of a “Christian” family show are tantamount to bullying and harassment, several activism arms of the AFA (such as One Million Moms) issue weekly boycott email blasts instructing their supporters to help get LGBT-friendly shows cancelled. The AFA is no stranger to boycotts or attempts to cancel shows they disagree with.
Television shows aren’t their only boycott targets, either.
The AFA once applauded a foreign country for criminalizing homosexuality
The AFA has also attacked small businesses for not sharing the same specific view of Christianity they subscribe to.
The AFA also believes the First Amendment only applies to Christians.
And speaking of the First Amendment, several #DefendTheDuggars supporters seem to be under the mistaken impression that the cancellation of a television show somehow infringes on the Duggars’ freedom of speech as laid out in the First Amendment, One particular supporter - even after several back and forth tweets - couldn’t be convinced people have no Constitutional right to a television show.
Let’s be clear; The U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the Duggars (or anyone else) the right to have their views aired on television. No one has a right to have a television show.
The First Amendment only applies to government intervention into protected First Amendment categories (speech, expression, religion, etc.). Private entities such as businesses, individuals and yes, television networks are not beholden to the First Amendment.
Were the government to come in and threaten the Duggars if they didn’t stop expressing their opinions and religious beliefs, that would be a First Amendment free speech issue. People petitioning the TLC network to have a show removed is not a violation of those rights; rather, it’s an everyday use of the free market (which is a key component of capitalism).
That particular person (and her lack of knowledge of middle school civics) aside, the #DefendTheDuggars conversation has nothing to do with their right to free speech. They have the right to speak their mind and express their religious beliefs the same with or without a privately-owned, well-funded television platform.
What is the point then, you ask?
The Duggars use that well-funded, public television platform to publicize their family name and fund their efforts to disenfranchise LGBT people. They use that fame and money to continue lobbying at the state and federal level to pass laws stripping LGBT families of their legal rights. With the help of powerful “Christian” anti-gay organizations, they’ve worked in several states to spread the message that LGBT people aren’t worthy enough to have the same rights they enjoy,
Want more evidence of that pervasive anti-gay ideology?
On their official public Facebook page recently, the Duggars posted a call for loving, married couples to post a picture of themselves kissing. On that post they wrote:
"God designed marriage to be a loving, dynamic relationship between a husband and wife for a lifetime. God loves marriage and it is supposed to be full of love, joy, fun and romance. Marriage is where romance belongs! Recently, Ben & Jessa received some criticism for posting a kissing picture. We are so grateful they waited to share their first kiss until after marriage. We’ve been married 30 years and are still in love! We had fun trying to duplicate Ben and Jessa’s happily married kissing picture. We challenge all married couples to take a happily married picture and post it here.” [Emphasis Mine]
And many people participated - including loving, legally married gay and lesbian couples. I was one of those participants. What happened? They went through and deleted each and every LGBT-friendly post and blocked those people from even liking anything on their page (let alone posting or replying to other comments).
Did the Duggars’ supporters view this as an infringement on people’s free speech? Of course not - the Duggars were merely quelling others’ comments because they didn’t conform to what they believed and it was within their right to censor others on their Facebook page. (But then it’s not TLC’s right to cancel their show even though the Duggars are their employees and have control over the message they want to broadcast on their network. Funny how that works.)
A few weeks back, California resident Jim Wissick organized a Change.org petition to call upon TLC to cancel the Duggars’ show as it allows them to promote discrimination against LGBT people. The petition never makes any mention of the Duggars’ religion, their right to express their opinions, or anything similar. In fact, it specifically calls out their extracurricular anti-gay activism the show funds and promotes through making them a household name.
And because of that, the AFA - an organization with dubious intentions and a swath of unquestioning followers willing to retweet without thinking - has people believing the Duggars are the victims rather than the aggressors.
If the Duggars want to live by their “traditional” family values I fully support that. I do not, however, support their “right” to remove LGBT families’ legal protections using a TLC-funded television platform. For that and many other reasons I cannot #DefendTheDuggars.
I’m not the only one who has problems with the Duggars either. Here’s some other recommended reading:
An Open Letter to the Duggars - an excellent in depth piece by Libby Anne
[Others to be added as I come across them]
One bit of good has come from the #DefendTheDuggars conversation - fundraising to help LGBTQ youth in Arkansas. The organization receiving the funds - Lucie’s Place - could really use the money if you can spare anything. You can learn more about what they do to help LGBTQ youth here.
Several H/T’s since I could never have assembled all of this information alone:
Scott Wooledge (of Memeographs)
Jeremy Hooper at Good As You
h/t: Tim Peacock at Peacock Panache
