Dean Asks 'Bachelorette' Fans To Respect His Father's Religion

This week on The Bachelorette, Rachel will visit the hometowns of her four remaining suitors. The hometown dates often make for the most emotional episode of the season, and Peter, Bryan, Eric, and Dean's families seemed destined to stir up a lot of feelings. In the preview for this week's hometown episode, Dean Unglert's father was shown wearing a traditional Sikh head wrap, which is known as a dastar. In an Instagram post on Saturday, Dean asked fans to respect his father's religion on The Bachelorette, and explained that his description of his father as being "eccentric" was unrelated to his Sikh faith.

Last week on The Bachelorette, the topic of going home came up between Rachel and Dean, and the suitor expressed his hesitation about bringing her to meet his family. His mother died from cancer when he was still a teenager, and he told the Rachel that since his father has become "eccentric." The description sparked some criticism from fans, and Dean clarified on both Twitter and Instagram that he was not referring to his father's religion.

In an Instagram post, he addressed his father's religion and what it meant to him in further detail, asking fans to be accepting of his dad's faith.

The picture shows the contestant in his rural hometown. In the caption of the Instagram post, he wrote:

"Hometowns are 2 days away! And I'm asking for a favor: when I said my father was eccentric, I was not referring to his Sikh faith or the turban he wears on his head. I'm not asking you to spare his feelings (or mine) but instead to be cognizant and accepting of the millions of people that belong to the Sikh community. Although he and I are not close, I respect my father’s decision to follow his heart and pursue the life he has chosen. Let us not criticize him for his appearance or his beliefs because by doing so we are disparaging an entire faith and culture that includes millions of people. And I know we are all better than that. That is all (for now) [end rant] HAPPY SATURDAY PEOPLE [heart emoji]."

The caption seemed to expand on his thoughts from Twitter. Dean addressed the issue of his dad's religion after a fan reached out on Twitter. The user tweeted at him, hoping to let him know how his comments might hurt others. She wrote: "Love you on [The Bachelorette] but using the word 'eccentric' to describe your Sikh dad is kind of insulting to Sikhs like me [sad face emoticon]." Dean tweeted back: "I understand what you mean. His eccentric behavior is not a product of his Sikh faith. I didn't mean for it to come across like that."

At 25 years old, Dean is the youngest contestant on this season of The Bachelorette, but his posts have showed great maturity when it comes to respect for his father.

Will Rachel choose Dean as her future husband? Only time will tell, but his thoughtful response to fans' concerns definitely show appropriate sensitivity. It's refreshing to see a star address an issue outright, and to encourage fans to be accepting and positive.