Jim Bob Duggar, Star Of TLC's '19 Kids And Counting,' Sounds Off On Transgender Girl Scout Controversy

Jim Bob Duggar, star of TLC's hit reality TV show "19 Kids And Counting," is sounding off on the Girl Scouts' transgender controversy.

A boycott of Girl Scout cookies, which was launched earlier this month by a 14-year-old scout known only as "Taylor," came in response to the national organization's decision to allow a transgender girl to join a troop in Colorado.

"Taylor" took to YouTube in an impassioned speech in which she laid out the reasons that the trans girl, Bobby Montoya, should not be allowed to join the Girl Scouts and argued that a boycott of the famous cookie sale would put pressure on the organization to change its decision.

Duggar, speaking with Buzzfeed while on the road campaigning for Rick Santorum, said: "Our family loves Girl Scout cookies and I don't think allowing a boy in the Girl Scouts is a good thing."

He continued:

"I think the founders of the Girl Scouts would be truly upset to hear this direction. If they're wanting to create a new scout program where girls and boys would join together, that might be an option. But whether somebody declares they're a boy or girl and can join either one -- it isn't even logical and it goes against the core principles the group was founded on."

Though three scout leaders in Louisiana recently quit and dissolved their troops as a protest against Montoya being admitted into the Girl Scouts, overall she has received an outpouring of support from both current and former Girl Scouts, as well as the general public -- including HuffPost Gay Voices readers -- who have pledged to buy extra boxes of cookies this year as a form of solidarity.

For their part, the Girl Scouts organization has remained committed to being inclusive and offered the following statement regarding Montoya's participation: "If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout."

Comments

[Amanda Roddy]

03:27 PM on 02/01/2012

7 years old is way too young to be making this decision. They are growing up way too fast. Bobby is still a boy. no matter what you cant change what nature gave you.Then eveyrone wonders what the heck is wrong with kids. I think these peopel are nuts too but a 7 yr old thinking they are trans is way off base.

[Eryn Morris]

03:59 AM on 01/31/2012

He seems to miss the point, like most people. Bobby Montoya is NOT a boy, she's a GIRL! More power to her and I plan to buy extra boxes this year to support the Girl Scouts. Not just for this, but for everything awesome they do towards empowering girls every day.

Makes me kinda disappointed because I really do enjoy the Duggars (um, religious things aside) because they're fun to watch and they're a happy functional family. I hate being reminded that jerkish, discriminatory worldviews go hand in hand with their chosen faith. Oh well, sucks to be them, just means more girl scout cookies for everyone that actually knows how to love and tolerate!

[Moriko Betz]

07:10 PM on 01/29/2012

What troubles me most is that this guy thinks these kids JUST simply proclaim, or declare, they are a boy or a girl. Who does this except for someone who struggles with their gender. This is not something that any boyscout of girlscout would do just for fun and laughs. This is not something someone proclaims for no real good reason behind it. It's ludacris to think a child simply just declares such a statement. Does he invision hoards of boyscouts switching to the girlscouts or vice versa? Geez! For a parent of , what 19? children, he surely should know the difference between a phase and NOT A PHASE.

[sugarlot]

02:34 PM on 01/29/2012

There are a lot of laws given in the bible that had to do with the times of the day and are no longer valid. That is why you have to read the whole bible to know in what context it was given. Some of what it says has a point to make that may or may not have to do with the issue but the response to the issue. It all boils down not to how Mr Dugger feels but how God feels. We only know how God feels from his word (the bible). He always gives us a choice and our lives are made up of the choices we make. I guess you could say is life is just one big test. Everyone was born with a free choice and it is not for me to hate anyone for their choice. I can hate sin but not the person. I hate my own sins (yes I have many) but I don’t hate myself. If you believe that the Bible is Gods holy word and you want to live your life each day pleasing him you sometimes have to deny how you feel or what you want and summit to how he feels. We all fall short of this and that is why we need the blood of Jesus to cover us.

[NOH8supporter]

11:24 PM on 01/28/2012

Jim Bob has so many kids, I doubt he knows their names. Thus, one of or more of them may BE transgender or gay and he wouldn't even know it. Better watch out for that glass house their, Jim Bob!

[ChadDarnell]

11:07 PM on 01/28/2012

Hey Bob, it's called a condom.

And anyone who wants to donate to Bobby Montoya's troop (the transgender scout) should go here: www.imatyga.org/girlscouts

[Crash2Parties]

06:41 PM on 01/25/2012

Jim Bob and the rest of these people need to be kept away from everyone else's children just in case one them turns out to be transgender. Just in case people like him decide to, "stomp a mudhole" in her and then, "stomp it dry" as Rep. Richard Floyd of Tennessee promises to do if he found my daughter in the girls' changing room at Macy's.

Because that vitriol is what all this loud, swaggering intolerance and hatred toward trans kids leads to. People promising to viciously and violently beat a seven year old because she's biologically different from the norm.

[yoyob]

11:03 PM on 01/24/2012

Way to go Girl Scouts in Colorado!!! Much success on coookie sales this season!! Let FREEDOM ring!

[Ruth G]

09:27 PM on 01/24/2012

I'm not gay or transgendered but if this small 7 year old child identifies herself as a girl. IF she dresses acts and thinks like she's a girl why shouldn't she be allowed to be a girl scout. We're not talking about a teen boy wanting to get an eye full we're talking about about a child who's probably very confused and doesn't know where she belongs, and needs a place to fit in the girls scouts were right to let her in.

[cmfrtblebbw]

08:56 PM on 01/24/2012

Jim Bob's opinion matters?

[sherm496]

08:25 PM on 01/24/2012

I agree with the Colorado Girl Scouts. Thank God someone has some sense and is actually behaving as Jesus would.

[SylvreWolfe]

08:22 PM on 01/24/2012

And what exactly is Jim Bob's credentials regarding this topic? Oh, he likes cookies? Whatever Jim Bob. I already plan on buying girl scout cookies this year, when I usually don't, so don't worry about missing out on them.

[Ursula Fassl Behmke]

07:12 PM on 01/24/2012

THE DUGGARS MAKE SICK,REALLY,DET GUY IS SICK,HI NEEDS TO PUT AWAY.WHO IS PAYING FOR ALL THESE SICK THINGS,ONLY U S. THE POOR AMERICAN PEOPLES
GO TO WORK PAL.EARN YOUR BREAD LIKE US.

[Ruth G]

09:28 PM on 01/24/2012

go learn spell and grammar. he does work and your just way out there could not understand half of your comment.

[alabama lawyer]

02:20 PM on 01/24/2012

What a jagoff.
I need to buy some cookies.

[Andrew Brittan]

11:41 AM on 01/24/2012

The Duggar family needs an extreme makeover - both inside and out!

[yoyob]

11:06 PM on 01/24/2012

I absolutely agree!! They are grandparents and continue having kids eventhough they know that the babies are dying or being born with complications!! They really should get their own house in order before commenting on what,s going on elsewhere!