Which is funny because the Duggars—children included—think thoughts about people like me.
The Duggars, for those of you who don't watch TV, are the stars of 19 Kids and Counting, one of the top-rated reality shows on television. Jim Bob Duggar and his wife, Michelle Duggar, the couple with the 19 kids, are hardcore fundamentalist Christians and members of the Quiverfull movement.
"Quiverfull members aspire to have as many children as possible, arguing that to win the culture wars, the faithful must literally 'out-populate the enemy,'" as Amanda Marcotte explained on Slate. "It's also a 'patriarchal cult' that teaches that men are 'leaders, teachers, initiators, protectors, and providers' and women are helpmeets who serve men by being 'submissive and yielding.' Submission is also demanded of children, particularly daughters."
The Duggars, thanks to their TV show, are the world's most famous Quiverfulling family. Their prior claim to fame involved a swiped family photograph and a parody motivational poster. ("VAGINA. It's not a clown car.")
Anyway, last April, a copy of People was sitting on the table in the waiting area at the place where I get my hair cut. There was a photo on the cover of Jill Duggar, one of Jim Bob and Michelle's nine daughters, holding the hand of her fiancé. "A DUGGAR ENGAGED," screamed the headline. "THEIR EXTREME COURTSHIP RULES!"
I snapped a picture, added a mildly snarky comment, and tweeted it out.
That was at 2:37 in the afternoon. Within four hours, a post detailing the "creepy viciousness" of my tweet went up on Twitchy, a right-wing website that targets liberals and progressives on Twitter.
"Jill Duggar, one of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's 19 children, is engaged to be married," wrote an anonymous Twitchy staffer. "But Dan Savage isn't wishing them well. No, the guy behind the 'It Gets Better' campaign is much too busy obsessing over their virginity... Jill and her fiancé have chosen to wait until their wedding night to consummate their relationship. In Savage's world, that's not just uncool—it's downright shameful and worthy of derision."
Twitchy's outraged followers—the only kind of followers they have—blew up my Twitter feed for a week.
