Derick Dillard Claims He Has “Homosexual Friends” and Fans Are Like LOL, Sure
Sigh. Former Counting On star Derick Dillard took to Twitter over the weekend to try to defend himself amid the Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent controversy. If you recall, the disgraced TLC alum took to his favorite platform to slam the Nate & Jeremiah by Design stars, calling their family a “travesty.” Now, he’s claiming to have friends in the LGBTQ community.
“I have friends who are homosexual and was in public school for 17 years, including university band, fraternity life, and spirit squad,” he tweeted on May 5. “I think I’ve more than opened my mind and eyes to experience all kinds of people very different than myself.”
Immediately, people began slamming the 29-year-old on reddit for his comments. “‘I’m not homophobic, I have a gay friend!’ is like saying ‘I can’t be sexist! I have a sister!” one person quipped. Another agreed, adding, “‘I was once in the same room as a Jewish person! I’m not anti Semitic!'” A third, however, thought his use of the word “homosexual” was a tell-tale sign of homophobia. “Using the word homosexual. I think this is a cross between using the technical term to sanitize the idea and as a way to seem sympathetic by using the correct word (rather than a slur).” Someone else chimed in, “Most people are more comfortable with the terms ‘gay,’ or ‘lesbian’ these days, or even just LGBT. A lot of the teenagers I know who are gay really don’t like the term ‘homosexual.'”
Previously, Derick was fired from the show for his transphobic comments about Jazz Jennings. “What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality,” he said in response to a tweet from TLC, promoting I Am Jazz back in August. “‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.” Later, he referred to her using the wrong pronoun. “I want to be clear. I have nothing against him. I only have issue with the words and definitions being propagated here,” he tweeted.
Days later, TLC announced that Derick would no longer be appearing on the Duggar family’s hit series. “We want to let our viewers know that Derick Dillard has not participated in Counting On for months and the network has no plans to feature him in the future,” the network said in a statement. “We want to reiterate that Derick’s personal statements do not reflect the views of the network. TLC is proud to share the story of Jazz Jennings and her family and will continue to do so.”
Honestly, I want to know who these so-called “homosexual friends” are. Because if you ask me, he’s just spewing a bunch of bs.
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