Former Counting On star Derick Dillard compared Jazz Jennings‘ gender affirmation surgery to “child abuse” that should “not be encouraged by the media.”
On Thursday, Dillard retweeted a PEOPLE link to a new interview with Jennings, the star of TLC‘s I Am Jazz, who said she was “doing great” after the surgery.
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“This kind of thinking should not be encouraged by media. A system that allows this kind of child abuse is clearly broken,” Dillard added.
Several of Dillard’s fans expressed disappointment in his position and continued tweeting about Jennings.
“What is with your obsession about her though?” one fan wrote.
“Derick haven’t you learnt to keep your mouth shut yet? It doesn’t concern you, isn’t about you or anyone you know,” another fan wrote.
“I agree with you, but why in the world do you need to tweet this? Our job, as a Christian, is not to [point] out people’s sins,” another added. “Our job is to show the love of Jesus. Let Him work on peoples hearts.”
The 29-year-old Dillard started criticizing Jennings and TLC last year with transphobic messages, and was ultimately fired from Counting On. In August, he called being transgender “a myth,” adding, “Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.”
“I pity Jazz, 4 those who take advantage of him in order 2 promote their agenda, including the parents who allow these kinds of decisions 2 be made by a child. It’s sad that ppl would use a juvenile this way,” Dillard wrote in a November tweet. “Again, nothing against him, just unfortunate what’s on tv these days.”
That November tweet turned out to be the last straw for TLC, which said they had no plans to include Dillard on new episodes of Counting On with his wife, Jill (Duggar) Dillard.
Jennings also tweeted on the situation, writing, “In the face of constant ignorance and hatred I prefer to disregard negative opinions and continue moving forward with love.”
Jennings had her gender affirmation surgery on June 26 and kept fans up to date on the procedure. “I’m doing great, thanks for all of the love and support,” the 17-year-old wrote on Instagram Thursday.
As for Dillard, he has insisted that he was not fired from TLC, but instead said he chose not to include his family on Counting On. After slamming TLC’s Nate and Jeremiah By Design, which stars a same-sex couple raising their daughter, Dillard told a fan, “They won’t tell you that I was ever fired because I wasn’t. We wanted to leave and they didn’t want us to. That’s the truth.”
Photo credit: Instagram/Derick Dillard
