TLC had Jazz Jennings’ back when the star of another of the network’s reality series made transphobic remarks about her, so it should come as no surprise that I Am Jazz was renewed for a fourth season. When the show returns, viewers will get to watch the transgender teen come face-to-face with a man who shares similar views to Derick Dillard, the Counting On star who attacked her on Twitter.
People recently shared a promo for the upcoming season of I Am Jazz , and it tackles tough topics including body image issues and sexuality. Like many teenage girls, Jazz Jennings worries about her weight, but looking and feeling better isn’t the 17-year-old LGBTQ activist’s only incentive for changing her eating habits and exercising more; her doctor tells her that she must lose 30 pounds before she can move forward with her gender confirmation surgery.
Jazz also talks about experimenting with her sexuality, and she reveals that she has started to develop feelings for a girl.
“Is this a soul mate or a sexual mate?” her grandmother asks her.
One of the most tense scenes in the I Am Jazz teaser video takes place when a man confronts her and accuses her of not loving herself because she’s transgender.
“You don’t love who you are,” he says. “You were born a certain way, you don’t love how you were born apparently.”
“Don’t tell me if I don’t love myself because I know who I love, not you,” she fires back.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BW5vBUUBqFk/?hl=en&taken-by=jazzjennings_
Jazz Jennings is no stranger to dealing with adult men who see nothing wrong with verbally attacking her. As reported by E! News , her fans were furious when Derick Dillard , the husband of Counting On star Jill Duggar, made transphobic remarks about her on Twitter. Derick was accused of bullying Jazz after calling her life a “non-reality” and writing that “‘transgender is a myth.”
TLC cut ties with Derick Dillard over the tweets, but he has continued to target the transgender community on social media. On Monday, he infuriated fans by equating transgender acceptance to child abuse. He had discovered the video below of a transgender rock star talking and singing to kids about gender identity, and he decided to post it on the Facebook page he shares with Jill Duggar.
“A friend shared this and called it out for what it is, child abuse! How unfortunate what children are subjected to in the name of progressive understanding,” Dillard wrote.
https://www.facebook.com/DerickandJill/posts/1688842007844655
TLC has not said that Jill Duggar will also be excluded from Counting On if the show returns, but Derick’s decision to use the Dillard Family Facebook page to attack the transgender community is making some fans believe that she endorses the views that led to his firing.
“I am sorry I do love your family and have watched for years, but this post is why I am unfollowing you. I thought better of Jill and Derick than this,” read one response to the Duggar husband’s remarks.
“Wow Jill, this was a mistake to post this and say what you did. I have to be in agreement with others here. I do not agree with this agenda, but I know God and HE is a forgiving God,” wrote another fan.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb11XfSAIOs/?hl=en&taken-by=derickdillard
Derick’s latest controversial remarks come as fans continue to await news about the fate of Counting On . The Duggar Family Blog reported that “there are no announcements to share” after contacting TLC about the show’s renewal, and some fans fear that Derick’s behavior may lead to its cancellation.
However, viewers can continue to watch Jazz Jennings’ journey unfold when I Am Jazz returns to TLC on January 2 at 10 p.m. ET.