In One Tweet, J.K. Rowling Just Sparked the Most Magical Celebration of Equality Ever

Impact

Just when you thought you literally couldn't love her any more, J.K. Rowling's takedown of the Westboro Baptist Church's trolling has resulted in a fictional wedding between Lord of the Rings wizard Gandalf the White and Harry Potter wizard Professor Albus Dumbledore.

The day after the Irish Gay Marriage Referendum passed on May 22, Rowling posted this tweet:

Westboro Baptist Church must not be good at the Twitter game, given they thought it was a good idea to take on Rowling, a battle that can never be won. They responded a few days later with a typically bigoted threat to picket any such fictional Dumbledore and Gandalf wedding. 

WBC's threat and Rowling's subsequent reply resulted in the materialization of the fictional wedding, albeit not in Ireland. According to the Huffington PostPlanting Peace, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting peace throughout the world, is hosting the ceremony in their Topeka, Kansas-based Equality House. It gets better: Equality House is directly across the street from WBC, and it's painted all the colors of the rainbow.

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"Our greatest hope is that our wedding will inspire others to stand against hate, even in the shadow of bigotry, and send a message to let all LGBTQ kids know they are loved and valued," a fictitious Dumbledore writes in a Crowdrise fundraising page. "There are too many groups like the Westboro Baptist Church that spread hate to our LGBTQ youth, making them feel less than." 

Planting Peace explained they were "delighted" to host this ceremony in the fight against bigotry. 

"When we read the battle between J.K. Rowling and the Westboro Baptist Church, we instantly connected with Ms. Rowling's message on many levels," Aaron Jackson, Planting Peace president, said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "The Equality House was founded to take a stand against the hurtful words and actions of hate groups like the WBC. People often question why we even mention them, and Ms. Rowling's words were spot on. We must actively stand up to hate and ensure that LGBTQ youth understand that they have a broad platform of love and support in this world."

The warring tweets and ensuing fictional gay marriage are perfect examples of how people can leverage social media to take a stand. The ceremony is planned for 2:00 p.m. on Sunday so you better clear your schedule — everyone's invited.