A New York pastor has gone viral for a poorly worded social media post about officiating his brother’s wedding, which led many to mistakenly believe he had married his sibling.
Peter Deberny, a Lutheran minister in Long Island, shared a photo on X (formerly Twitter) of his brother and new sister-in-law on their wedding day. His caption read, “Yesterday I married my brother”.
Yesterday I married my brother pic.twitter.com/xGKk8np97m
— Rev. Peter Deberny (@PastorDeberny) October 15, 2025
The phrase “married my brother” can be technically accurate from the perspective of an officiate.
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However, many people on social media initially misinterpreted it to mean that Deberny had entered into a same-sex marriage with his sibling.
As the post gained millions of views, the internet figured out the error. Many users commented on the post, joking about the phrasing.
When one user suggested a more precise caption like, “I presided over the marriage of my brother,” Deberny responded that his original, confusing wording was “much more funny”.
The humorous misunderstanding was widely covered by news outlets and reposted across social media, ensuring the post went viral and achieved international attention.
