Tens of Thousands Sign Counter-Petitions to Keep '19 Kids and Counting' Stars on TLC

By Shawn Schuster
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar

On the heels of a recent petition to get the hit TV show "19 Kids and Counting" removed from The Learning Channel by a gay rights activist, thousands of supporters are backing a new petition to keep the show on the air.

The petition, created by pro-life and pro-family news organization LifeSiteNews, has already attracted enough positive attention to gain over 60,000 signatures in less than a day, including those of several prominent conservative activists such as TV stars David and Jason Benham, former Fox News contributor Steven Crowder, American Family Association President Tim Wildmon, Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor, radio talk show host Alice Stewart, Father Shenan Boquet of Human Life International and American Thinker deputy editor Drew Belsky.

In addition, LifeSiteNews is organizing a Tweetfest today from 12:00 p.m. EST to 12:00 a.m. EST to help support the petition with the hashtag #DefendtheDuggars.

"The Duggars need your help to save their show! In the past few days, liberal extremists have launched a full-scale attack on the Duggars, demanding that The Learning Channel cancel the Duggars' popular reality TV show," the petition's description page reads. "Their reason? Michelle Duggar openly opposed an extreme 'transgender' bill in Fayetteville. The bill would have given biological males who say they are women the right to use women's bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and other female-only facilities!"

The original petition was filed by Jim Wissick of San Jose, California in response to what he calls "fear-mongering" against the gay community by the Duggars. That petition, originally started in August, has garnered over 130,000 signatures so far, most of which happened in the last few days, thanks to extensive coverage on The Huffington Post and E! Online.

But the drive to keep the show on the air is powering forward just as quickly. In addition to this LifeSiteNews petition, similar petitions have been started on Change.org and Petitions24.com to show support for the Christian family and their beliefs. In the description of the Petitions24.com page, a poignant message shines through to the 20,000+ signatures already showing support: "I am not the same religion, I don't have 19 kids, and I don't dress like them, but their message is something that is found in all religions in every area of the world and that is to live or at least strive to be the best versions of ourselves, to know what our convictions are and to stand by them." 

"Rather than being extreme, the Duggars represent the majority of people in state after state who have stood up for the traditional family," the LifeSiteNews petition continues. "The real extremists are those who are demanding that a TV network penalize America's beloved family because they support the truth about family, which they have always expressed in a loving, compassionate fashion."

American Thinker deputy editor Drew Belsky agrees. "Silencing those who disagree flies in the face of the 'free and open' mantra we often hear from the folks who want adult male strangers joining your young daughter in the bathroom," Belsky said. "But this is how 'tolerance' and 'open-mindedness' play out for a movement insisting that concrete concepts - like 'man' and 'woman' - can mean anything one chooses."

American Family Association President Tim Wildmon adds that "the homosexual lobby is intolerant of opposing views and castigates anyone who doesn't wholly embrace their lifestyle. TLC should reject the petition."

If you'd like to support LifeSiteNews' campaign and the Duggar family, be sure to sign the petition and spread the #DefendtheDuggars hashtag across Twitter all day today.

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