'Duck Dynasty's' Phil Robertson on Transgender Bathrooms: 'Depravity Is Going Mainstream'
Phil Robertson, the 70-year-old patriarch of A&E's "Duck Dynasty," argues that removing male and female distinctions in the transgender bathroom debate in America creates a "sexual free-for-all," where depravity is "going mainstream."
"There's been a lot of decrees in the past five years that I don't agree with, and that's just one of them. I don't know what percent of Americans are confused about whether they are male or female, but I'm a Bible man with common sense, and logic tells me you're either a boy or a girl, absent a few medical aberrations," Robertson told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview.
He was speaking about President Obama's decree last week to public schools, which demands that administrators allow students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, not their birth sex.
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"What's behind it is removing male and female, like with same-sex marriage, once you get that out of the way, what you open the door for is sexual free-for-all, and depravity goes mainstream," he added.
Conservative groups and politicians in America have also slammed Obama's decree, including the American Family Association and the Family Research Council, though the president told BuzzFeed News in an interview on Monday that he is looking to defend kids from being bullied.
"We're talking about kids," Obama explained.
"Anybody who has been in school, in high school, who has been a parent should realize that kids who are sometimes in the minority, kids who have a different sexual orientation or are transgender are subject to a lot of bullying, potentially. They are vulnerable. And I think that is part of our obligation as a society to make sure that everybody is treated fairly and our kids are all loved and that they're protected and that their dignity is affirmed," he added.
Conservative pastors, such as Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, have warned that such a move goes against the Bible, and accused Obama of exploiting transgender people.
"The Bible says 'God made them from the beginning male and female.' Not male, female and question mark. God has determined how many sexes there are — there are two, not three," the megachurch pastor said, referencing Matthew 19:4.
"Gender identity confusion is an emotional disorder, that should be treated professionally, and compassionately. Gender identity confusion should not be exploited by social activists like those in the Obama administration who want to deny the God-given distinction between the sexes. This is a rebellion against God's plan," Jeffress added.
Robertson, who has also spoken out against the legalization of gay marriage under Obama's administration, plugged his upcoming documentary film, "Torchbearer," which speaks out against abortion in America, and is due to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival this week.
"When you remove the God of the Bible and suppress the truth and allow men and women to determine right and wrong, historically speaking, it always ends in carnage and murder — Hitler, the Caesars of Rome, the French Revolution, ISIS," the "Ducky Dynasty" star told THR in the interview.
"Man, there has been a slaughterhouse on planet Earth, and the common denominator is the removal of God. We're killing babies in their mother's womb now. You were in your mother's womb, dude. If someone went in there and threw this future reporter away, you wouldn't be talking to me, so give me a break."
