A Change.org petition to get the Duggar family’s show, “19 Kids and Counting,” off the air is gaining steam.
The petition, which has gathered close to 80,000 signatures, says it wants the show canceled to help “end LGBTQ fear mongering by the Duggars.”
That so-called “LGBTQ fear mongering”? It’s about the Duggars’ opposition to a Fayetteville, Ark., ordinance the family believed could allow individuals to use a bathroom different from the one designated for their current physical sex.
The ordinance, which passed in August, was opposed by the Duggars. Michelle Duggar, the matriarch of the family, recorded a robocall. Here’s a portion of what she said:
The Fayetteville City Council is voting on an ordinance this Tuesday night that would allow men – yes, I said men – to use women’s and girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, showers, sleeping areas and other areas that are designated for females only.
I don’t believe the citizens of Fayetteville would want males with past child predator convictions that claim they are female to have a legal right to enter private areas that are reserved for women and girls.
I doubt that Fayetteville parents would stand for a law that would endanger their daughters or allow them to be traumatized by a man joining them in their private space. We should never place the preference of an adult over the safety and innocence of a child.
Now, according to the Fayetteville Flyer, the ordinances’ supporters felt there were enough protections in place:
City Attorney Kit Williams said state laws already exist that address people attempting to enter the wrong bathroom for any unlawful purpose – indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. Both, he said, are state statutes that trump all local laws.
But even if indecent exposure and disorderly conduct are banned, not all women–or men–are going to be comfortable with someone who has the physical appearance of the opposite sex sharing a bathroom or locker room with them. After all, our society has deliberately chosen to institute bathrooms and locker rooms divided by sex–precisely because people aren’t comfortable undressing and using the bathroom around both sexes.
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And the Duggars are hardly extremists for being concerned.
When California passed a law allowing students identifying as transgender to use the bathroom of their choice, there was widespread opposition. A March CBS News poll found that 59 percent of Americans thought transgender students should use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their birth gender.
E! Online reports that petition writer Jim Wissick also objects to the Duggars’ decision to delete a photo of a same-sex couple kissing posted on their Facebook page in response to their post asking “all married couples to take a happily married picture and post it here.”
But no one’s forced to read the Duggar Facebook page—or watch their show. If you don’t like their beliefs on same-sex marriage or on other issues, there’s an easy solution: tune out.
