Derick Dillard of "Counting On" fame came under fire from the LGBT community after he criticized transgender teenager Jazz Jennings and said "gender is not fluid; it's ordained by God".
Dillard, the husband of Duggar daughter Jill, replied to a tweet from TLC urging people to watch their show featuring Jennings, titled "I Am Jazz".
"What an oxymoron... a 'reality' show which follows a non-reality," Dillard tweeted on Wednesday. "'Transgender' is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it's ordained by God."
He later clarified, "I want to be clear.I have nothing against him. I only have I have nothing against him. I only have issue with the words and definitions being propagated here."
Dillard, 28, then tweeted: "'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.' Proverbs 3:5. We shouldn't trust our own heart & mind."
The Christian reality star received major backlash from Twitter users, who took issue with him "misgendering" Jennings.
"Is it necessary for a grown man to throw shade at a teenage girl?" tweeted one user.
Another Twitter user wrote: "Very hypocritical of your family to profit from a network which airs content against your beliefs. Don't like it? Don't associate with it."
Others demanded TLC take the reality show off the air.
"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY OK WITH THIS??? YOU'RE GONNA ALLOW A GROWN MAN CHILD TO BULLY A CHILD ON YOUR WATCH???," wrote one woman.
"Time to get rid of the Duggars for good!!!!" added another.
This is not the first time the Duggar family has offended the LGBT community; in 2014, matriarch Michelle Duggar campaigned against an anti-discrimination bill in Fayetteville, Arkansas, saying, "I don't believe... citizens... 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."
She added: "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. Parents, who do you want undressing next to your daughter at the public swimming pool's private changing area? I still believe that we are a society that puts women and children first.'
The Duggar family's reality program "Counting On" also airs on TLC, and is set to premiere next month.
TLC's description of "I am Jazz" reads: "Although born male, Jazz is a transgender female and has been living as a girl since kindergarten. Parents Jeanette and Greg have spent the years finding doctors to treat their daughter, while fighting the discrimination and misconceptions associated with what it means to be transgender. But, now that Jazz is 14, she is on the brink of the biggest challenge of her life: high school. Not only does Jazz face the normal struggles of a 14 year-old girl; boy crazy friends, mood swings, and body image issues, she must also contend with the unique challenges of being a transgender girl. Jazz is on a regimen of hormone therapy so that she can look and develop like the other girls in her school. But, Jazz struggles with comparing herself, and the lagging pace of her breast development to her friends."
"In four short years, Jeanette and Greg's youngest daughter will be a candidate for gender reassignment surgery. With that decision on the horizon, they must first survive four years of High School. With unconditional love and humor this close-knit family works together to face the many challenges ahead."
