Aaron Jackson wasn’t even aware of Westboro Baptist Church until he saw the May 2012 photograph of 9-year-old Topekan Josef Miles staging a counterprotest at one of the church’s pickets.

The photo of Josef, whose sign read "God hates no one," went viral, spreading rapidly across the Internet.

The photo inspired Jackson, he said, and he checked Google Earth to see where Westboro Baptist was located. The application displayed an image of the church’s compound — and a "for sale" sign in the yard of a house across the street. Although that house turned out not to be for sale, Jackson said, the house at 1200 S.W. Orleans was, and a plan started to take shape.

Planting Peace, Jackson’s nonprofit organization, on Tuesday painted the house across the street from the church in the colors of the gay pride flag. The "Equality House" is meant to symbolize equality, peace and positive change, Jackson said.

Jackson, 31, of Destin, Fla., is co-founder of Planting Peace. He said the group purchased the house about six months ago. As it isn’t zoned for office use, he said, it will be used as housing for Planting Peace volunteers who want to work on the group’s equality campaign and anti-bullying programs.

As for how the neighbors will feel, Jackson said he doesn’t know what approach Westboro Baptist will take.

"This isn’t us trying to start a war with them or anything of that nature," he said. "This is just, they believe one thing and we believe another. We’re opposing their view."

Steve Drain, spokesman for Westboro Baptist, issued a statement via email proclaiming that the church thanks God for the "Sodomite Rainbow House." The house shines a spotlight on the church’s belief that sodomy is destroying America and damning souls to hell, he stated.

"This is not a novel idea — there are hundreds of similarly painted houses around the world — the only reason why this one is a story is because of where it is!" Drain wrote.

City spokeswoman Suzie Gilbert said painting the house didn’t violate city code.

Painters with McKessor’s Painting began work on the house at 8 a.m. Work was scheduled to last throughout the day, as the siding needed multiple coats.

Contractor Mike McKessor, of Kansas City, Mo., said he had agreed to contract to paint the house with four of his employees after five other contractors who initially expressed interest turned the job down. His reason was simple.

"I don’t like them messing with veterans," he said, referring to Westboro Baptist’s pickets of troops’ funerals. McKessor said he is a veteran.

He said local painters may have been uncomfortable with the thought of harassment from the group if they accepted the job. But he said he doesn’t blame them.

"I live an hour away, so I can get away with it," he said.

Beyond that, McKessor seemed to like the idea of the Equality House.

"You know, everybody’s the same, so hey, let’s get rid of the hatred," he said.

The group’s goal isn’t for the Equality House to be a sideshow, Jackson said, but rather to be aesthetic and professional.

He and other volunteers said several neighbors and passers-by had stopped by to share their support for the project.

"I’m happy to see the community is getting behind it," he said.

Jackson started Planting Peace in 2004 with John Dieubon. He said he didn’t receive much funding support for his first project — an orphanage in Haiti — but got it off the ground with Dieubon, who is from Haiti. Jackson funded the orphanage, and Dieubon ran it.

Now, along with a network of volunteers, Jackson organizes several projects worldwide, including rainforest preservation and a multination deworming campaign that received a good deal of recognition when the group was named a CNN Hero in 2007.

Since then, funding has poured in, and the group was able to deworm more than 8 million children the following year.

Jackson said Planting Peace is now in the process of deworming every child in Guatemala. The group is able to purchase 1 million of the pills necessary to rid people of intestinal tapeworms for $15,000. The pills’ street value, he said, would be roughly $2.5 million.

Deworming is easily done, Jackson said, and cost effective.

"We give the kids this pill, the worms shoot out of them in 24 to 48 hours, and life comes back into them. It’s one of the most amazing things," he said. "And it’s unfortunate that people pump money into feeding programs and not deworming issues."

Jackson said the timing seems perfect for the group to launch its equality campaign, starting with the Equality House.

"It’s good timing, with the climate of the country moving toward marriage equality, equality as a whole," he said. "We’re just doing what we can to help push that through."

Additional information about Planting Peace and its initiatives, including the Equality House, can be found on the organization’s website, http://www.plantingpeace.org.

Capital-Journal staff writer Corey Jones contributed to this report.