Derick Dillard is no stranger to backlash. The former Counting On star has found himself at the center of a number of controversies both prior to and after his exit from the TLC series, but when one fan went after his and wife Jill (Duggar) Dillard’s son Israel after he shared a gallery of images from their Fourth of July, Dillard hit back.
“Your oldest son looks gay,” the commentor wrote.
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“And what does a gay person look like??” Dillard hit back.
Many of Dillard’s followers also slammed the original comment and came to little Israel’s defense.
“Really, he’s a baby. In My book children are off limits,” one person wrote.
“Kids should be off-limits to snark,” another commented. “I do not agree with any Duggar/Duggar-related people’s beliefs, but the kids shouldn’t be targeted.”
“Two wrongs does not make a right you still never go after a child I don’t care who you are,” wrote a third.
“He’s a little boy. That is just wrong man. Wrong in every way,” wrote another.
In the past, Dillard has had a notably tense relationship with the LGBT community, a relationship that was so taught that it eventually led to his firing from Counting On.
In August of 2017, Dillard took to Twitter with a transphobic attack against fellow TLC star Jazz Jennings, writing that being transgender is a “myth” and “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 [people] would use a juvenile this way,” he added in a November tweet. “”Again, nothing against him, just unfortunate what’s on tv these days.”
The tweet appeared to be the last straw for TLC, who announced later that month that Dillard and his wife would no longer be a part of their popular series Counting On, citing the star’s controversial statements as their reasoning for cutting ties.
Unfortunately, Dillard didn’t seem to learn from his past transgressions, and in April of 2018, he slammed Nate & Jeremiah by Design stars Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, calling their lifestyle a “travesty” and “degrading to children.”
He again continued his attacks against Jennings in June of that year when he criticized Jennings’ gender confirmation surgery, stating that “this kind of thinking should not be encouraged by media,” and that “a system that allows this kind of child abuse is clearly broken.”
