A New Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Group “Gays Against Groomers” is Looking to Expand

An anti-trans, anti-drag organization has migrated from online spaces to sow discord amongst the LGBTQ+ community and demonize people in our community. Gays Against Groomers is an organization that portrays itself as “a coalition of gay people and others within the community” aiming to protect children from what they call a group of radicals activists pushing “extreme concepts.” Despite the image they portray, Gays Against Groomers has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ+ extremist group with known affiliations to other right-wing extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty.

Gays Against Groomers, also referred to with the fitting acronym of GAG, started off in 2022 as a twitter account created by Jaimee Michell in the wake of LibsOfTikTok’s success with conservative audiences, GAG has since grown become 501(c)4 non-profit organization. Michell, who previously has worked for right-wing communications firms Arsenal Media and X Strategies, has a long history in far-right politics and spreading conspiracy theories online. 

Before founding Gays Against Groomers, Michell made a name for herself online as an avid Trump supporter, rushing to use her identity as a lesbian to defend the former president from claims of homophobia, this earned her a spot on the advisory board of the “Trump Pride” coalition. In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, Michell became involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement to overturn the election results. The watchdog group, Media Matters found that Michell had frequent online communication with the movement’s founder, Ali Alexander. Michell would deepen her involvement in the “Stop the Steal” effort, serving as a contact for rallies held in Wisconsin and appearing as a featured guest at D.C. events for Alexander under her online handle “TheGayWhoStayd.” 

Unsurprisingly, Michell’s online presence from before she founded GAG is focused on spreading conspiracy theories and smearing the critics of the right-wing. For just a taste of Michell’s lovely online persona, she has spread memes accusing Stephen Colbert and Jake Tapper of pedophilia and insinuated that Bill Kristol, an anti-Trump conservative, was involved in “Pizzagate.” The point being, Michell is no stranger to online conspiracy theories and has been prominent.

Despite Michell’s obsession with falsely accusing fellow queer people of pedophilia or grooming for not thinking drag is profane, she has a pronounced blindspot when it comes to actual child abuse. Michell has a particular affinity for conservative activist and former Brietbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, who claims now to be an “ex gay” with a history of dismissing victims of clerical sex abuse as “not a big deal.” Michell repeatedly reposted tweets and images of Yiannopoulos peddling conservative propaganda months after comments of Yiannopoulos condoning forms of pedophilia surfaced. Yiannopolous has said he has attended parties with what he describes as “very young” boys where grown people engaged in sexual acts with them. Now that Yiannopolous has declared himself an “ex-gay,” this has shifted his efforts to rehabilitating the image of conversion therapy. This doesn’t even get into Michell’s unwavering support of former President Trump, who a jury found guilty of sexual misconduct and numerous allegations of sexual abuse levied against him, including from a girl as young as 13 who dropped their case out of fear. 

GAG has become particularly active in creating demonstrations that they call “rallies against child grooming” and “radicalized sexual curriculum.” GAG coordinates many of these demonstrations with another extremist group, Moms for Liberty, who has their own scandal that emerged when it revealed one of the co-founders was accused of rape. Moms for Liberty has a hist

Despite Gays Against Groomers’ attempts to portray itself as a defender of children, the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center have identified GAG as an anti-LGBTQ+ extremist group, noting that the organization’s leaders have known affiliations to extremist groups like the Proud Boys. 

Eli Bazan, the Founder of the Parasol Patrol, a Colorado-based group that shields young people and kids from harassment at LGBTQ+ events, has had multiple run-ins with GAG and has observed their ties to neo-Nazi groups first hand. Bazan saw them at a drag queen story hour event in Wadsworth, Ohio in March that turned into an all-out brawl. The Parasol Patrol had shown up at the drag event following its heavy publication and sure enough, a group of white supremacist and neo-nazis appeared as counter protestors, shouting “Seig Heil” and “Heil Hitler.” Among the extremist groups, Bazan saw Group 171, an anti-Trans group that accuses trans people of grooming children. 

On GAG itself, Bazan told OFM in an interview that GAG has expanded out to Colorado. “They had a ‘Stop the War on Children’ rally, at the capital in October; we showed up as counter protestors.” Bazan says, “They were shouting, calling us perverts and pedophiles. Since then they have actively been sending out letters to local vendors and businesses that have planned to host all-ages drag shows, trying to intimidate them into cancelation. So far, they have already been successful at canceling an event at Park & Co.” The drag lunch event at the North Denver burger joint was canceled after the venue received letters from GAG.  

Among the groups commonly sighted at GAG events are militant, far-right extremists. Like Bazan observed, Moms for Liberty and the Proud Boys have made repeated appearances across the country. Amongst their ranks, Blood Tribe, a Texas-based neo-nazi group which had previously terrorized the drag event in Wadsworth, Patriot Front and Group 171. Far-right organizations and neo-nazi groups have also indicated they see anti-drag sentiment as a boon to their recruitment tactics. 

GAG, like other anti-LGBTQ+ extremist organizations, have been kept afloat via big right-wing donors, although these groups claim to be based on grassroots organizing. The Southern Poverty Law Center found that right-wing groups like the Heritage Foundation and the Bradley foundations have been financially supporting GAG and Moms for Liberty, giving these hate groups thousands of dollars to host events and rallies. 

GAG has been embraced by conservative news media. Michell has appeared on FOX News and InfoWars, including a segment with former FOX news host Tucker Carlson. On Carlson’s show, Michell blamed the deadly shooting at Club Q last year on trans people and gender-affirming care.

Indeed, it seems Michel and Gays Against Groomers have been complicit in demonizing the LGBTQ+ community. They continue to spread dangerous conspiracy theories that paint gender-nonconforming people and trans people as groomers and pedophiles, ignoring the substantiated accusations of sex abuse by their right-wing idols. Michel, her partner, and GAG have prioritized their politics at the expense of queer people on the whole.