It’s clear that Pokemon Go has swept the nation. Children are playing it. Adults are playing it. Criminals are playing it.
Even the Westboro Baptist Church is playing Pokemon Go.
The Topeka, Kansas-based church, known for preaching hateful rhetoric toward the LGBT community, the United States military and just about every religion, is listed as a “gym” on the Pokemon Go app. Pokemon Go players move about in real life from gym to gym and can do battle with teams affiliated with each gym.
At one point during the weekend, a Pokemon Go user won a battle at the Westboro Baptist Church gym, and took the opportunity to troll the group’s anti-LGBT rhetoric by defending the gym with a pink Pokemon called a Clefairy. The user aptly named his Clefairy, “LOVEISLOVE.”
the fact that Westboro Baptist Church is a gym being controlled by a Clefairy named LOVEISLOVE is my fav. #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/baRK3XDvod
— PokemonGo™ (@CatchEmAlI) July 11, 2016
However, the Church fired back by sharing Pokemon-related memes to push their values. One Vine video features a singing Pokemon called a Jigglypuff telling viewers to “Repent or Perish.”
The church also shared a number of anti-LGBT images with Pokemon themes on their Twitter page.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
