The augmented reality game that has taken over your Facebook feed Pokémon Go has caused an in-game rivalry between LGBTIQ friendly players and the Westboro Baptist Church.
For those who haven’t been caught up in the craze, the game leads players to real world locations known as Pokéstops to collect supplies and Pokémon Gyms to battle their pocket monsters. There locations are marked on an interactive map based on real world landmarks such as shopping centres and town halls. One such gym has popped up in Kansas at the home of the vocally homophobic Westboro Baptist Church.
The Westboro Baptist Church Gym is currently controlled by a Clefairy named LOVEISLOVE . ICONIC. I LOVE IT. pic.twitter.com/y4RRv5nXxT
— // Venny // (@DarthVenn) July 10, 2016
Pokémon Gyms allow players who win a battle to leave a character behind to defend their new acquisition. One such player used the opportunity to leave Clefairy, a fairy type Pokémon, named ‘LOVEISLOVE’ at the Westboro Baptist Church location.
Westboro also used the opportunity to use the new platform to further its own cause, announcing they had recruited their own Pokémon to deal with “the sodomite loveislove Clefairy”. The organisation posted more hateful images on Twitter with the accompanying hashtag #PokemonGO.
The sodomite #LoveIsLove Clefairy is another sign that the end of the world is near, @lindhclara! #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/ewzMXA76fK
— God Hates The Media (@GodH8sMedia) July 11, 2016
“We try to speak whatever language is being spoken,” Westboro elder Steve Drain told USA Today.
“Pokémon Go and sin no more. That’s what the lord Jesus Christ said.”
OIP Staff
