Petition Demands TLC Cancel '19 Kids and Counting' Due To 'Fear Mongering'

A petition is circulating on Change.org calling for the TLC network to cancel "19 Kids and Counting" after the Duggar family was accused of deleting a same-sex photo from its Facebook page.

The controversy began last week, when Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar posted a photo of themselves kissing on their official family Facebook page. The couple challenged other married couples to also post photos of themselves, and they were then accused of deleting a photo that showed a married same-sex couple kissing. The photo of the same-sex couple kissing included a caption promoting the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide.

After rumor of the Duggars' alleged deletion began to circulate, a Change.org petition was started by Jim Wissick of San Jose, California, calling on the TLC television network to cancel the program due to alleged "fear mongering."

"The Duggars have been using their fame to promote discrimination, hate, and fear-mongering against gays and transgendered people," Wissick writes in the petition, adding to TLC: "You need to take a stand on the side of justice and cancel their show."

The petition also points to an instance in which Michelle Duggar participated in a Robocall in August, encouraging Arkansas residents to oppose a piece of legislation that would allow transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they associate with, rather than the gender they were born with.

Media outlets argue that this recent Change.org is trying to reach a similar conclusion that the A&E network reached last December, when it temporarily suspended Phil Robertson, star of "Duck Dynasty," from his show after he made comments regarding homosexuality as a sin. Robertson was reinstated to the show eight days later following public outrage.