Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar
Photo: Facebook
By: Kelly Morris/Special to TRT by The Seattle Lesbian—
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes…Instagram selfies and controversy.
Jessa Duggar, 21, one of the many children in TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, got married to her 19-year-old husband Ben Seewald on November 1. The couple didn’t share their first kiss at the wedding, but chose to do it privately after.
Four days later, Duggar posted a photo of herself kissing her husband on Instagram which caused a lot of controversy because before the wedding, the couple could only spend time together alone if accompanied by a chaperone, hold hands, and side hug.
After receiving backlash, Duggar’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, also posted a kissing photo on their Facebook page saying, “God designed marriage to be a loving, dynamic relationship between a husband and a wife for a lifetime. God loves marriage and it is supposed to be full of love, joy, fun and romance…” and asked other married couples to post their photos as well.
John Becker, managing editor of The Bilerico Project, decided to join in and posted a photo of him and his husband of nine years. More same-sex couples started to follow, and Becker realized later not only was his photo deleted, but he was banned from their page.
“It’s their page, of course, so they have every right to do that,” Becker wrote on his blog. “But as I noted, the whole episode says something about them and their gay panic-saturated worldview.”
On November 12, the Duggars posted: “Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” This is such a sweet scripture that we hold dear. We will always stand for truth and the values we hold dear without compromise but we will do so in love and kindness – treating others well even if we don’t agree with them and we will do so without hateful words. This verse is a reminder of how we must always carry ourselves. Precious words from Jesus.”
Though the post didn’t specifically talk about the controversy, the timing was interesting. They have yet to comment.
