Last week, transgender activists tried to get the popular TV show 19 Kids and Counting canned.  The movement, accustomed to capitulation, may not have expected a conservative counter-petition to overcome its Change.org push.

The flap originally came about when Michelle Duggar, matriarch of the Duggar clan, sent out robo-calls in Fayetteville, Arkansas opposing an "anti-discrimination law" that would make it easier for men calling themselves women to share bathrooms with people's young daughters.  Transgender activists descended into a meltdown over Duggar's "transphobia."

Thus the haranguing of TLC, which hosts 19 Kids and Counting.

Liberal media outlets like the Washington Post and CNN breathlessly covered the Change.org petition, organized by activist Jim Wissick.  LifeSiteNews's counter-petition, not so much.  Yet, four days since its creation, the counter-petition has reached over 180,000 signatures, surpassing the three-month-old Wissick petition by about 17,000 names.

LifeSiteNews editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen justified the counter-petition this way:

This all started when Michelle Duggar and her family stood against a law that would let transgendered men go into female restrooms, locker rooms, etc. While the gay lobby won that particular battle, they did not stop at using the government to enforce their beliefs. Instead, they chose to attack the Duggars and their beliefs in an online petition that, were it not for liberal media promoting their work, would have gone unnoticed.

After efforts to silence Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson failed spectacularly early this year, one would expect homosexual and transgender activists to try a different tack.  But it seems that the movement (and the mainstream media) needs yet another reminder of how fringe it is, and how willing Americans in flyover country are to defend those who speak out for their morals.

Drew Belsky is American Thinker's deputy editor.  Contact him at drew@americanthinker.com, and follow him on Twitter @DJB627.