'Pokémon Go' Players Have Targeted the Westboro Baptist Church With a Message About Love

Impact
By Sarah A. Harvard

Some users on Pokémon Go are using the augmented reality game to fight a battle for LGBT equality against the Westboro Baptist Church.

The Westboro Baptist Church is an extremist hate group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, and is known for its hate speech against the LGBTQ community. They've made headlines in the past for picketing funerals of gay armed services members and the Orlando shooting victims.

A Pokémon Go player found out that the church's compound in Topeka, Kansas, hosts a gym. A gym in Pokémon Go is an arena where users can battle other Pokémon from other teams. If they win the battle, they control the gym in that area. A user has taken control over the gym with a Clefairy Pokémon named "LoveIsLove."

The Westboro Church is fighting back — with a jigglypuff. 

They even prepared for battle by posting a Vine with a remix of the Pokémon theme song.

There haven't been any reports of an actual battle taking place between Jigglypuff and Clefairy. But one thing is for sure: people are overwhelmingly rooting for "LoveIsLove."

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