Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Congressional caucuses Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Gays Against Groomers (GAG)[5] is an American far-right[1][2][3] and anti-LGBT[5][1][6][7] organization known for campaigning against gender-affirming care for minors,[1] protesting school curriculum content with LGBT themes,[8] criticizing Drag Queen Story Hour events,[4] and opposing LGBT representation in children's media.

[7] According to GLAAD and the ADL, GAG uses the slur "groomer" along with ambiguous messaging to perpetuate the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory.

[5][16] It is classified as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center[17] and is part of the 2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States.

[19][20] During the January 6 insurrection, Michell posted support for the rioters on social media, including reposting content from far-right political commentator, Milo Yiannopoulos.

The firm was founded by Alex Bruesewitz, a right-wing activist who had previously been accused of paying online influencers as young as 14 to run advertisements for the Trump "Election Defense Fund.

[24] In July 2023, more than 22 GAG members quit the organization after it was revealed that Michell had ties to Florida governor and then presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis, who the week prior had made an ad criticizing Donald Trump for his past support of LGBT people and friendly relationship with Caitlyn Jenner, a conservative trans woman who had supported GAG up until that point.

"[28] Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at Harvard, described GAG as "a conservative funded propaganda account to push the groomer libel".

[14] Before Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, the website's rules prohibited the use of "groomer" as an insult based on gender identity or expression under their hate speech policy.

[34] A report from the Human Rights Campaign found that retweets of the GAG Twitter account's posts using the word "groomer" had grown by 300% when comparing the two months before and after Musk's purchase.

[38] In response, Gays Against Groomers announced their California chapter would attend a protest of the school board meeting on social media, and encouraged others to join.

[40] Before the school board meeting, Gays Against Groomers had trucks drive around the city claiming the district teaches "radical gender ideology.

[43] In October 2023, GAG held the "Worldwide Stop the War on Children Rally," which had about a dozen attendees and garnered attention for its hateful signage which falsely accused trans people and LGBT activists of "coordinated child abuse".

Three Republican Wisconsin state legislators, Reps. John Macco, Nate Gustafson, and Joy Goeben attended the rally.

[47] In January 2023, Ryan Woods, a drag artist also known as Lady MAGA USA, spoke on behalf of GAG in support of a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in Utah.

[48] In April 2024, GAG sued five Democrats in the Colorado General Assembly for not allowing them the "right to deadname and misgender trans people in public testimony.

[51] In November 2024, GAG voiced support for Nancy Mace's proposed bill which would ban transgender people from using single-sex facilities that differ from their sex assigned at birth on all federal property.

[3] In October 2023, the Pulaski Community School District in Wisconsin was granted a restraining order against the leader of the GAG Wisconsin chapter, Jose "Rocky" Rodriguez, after GAG along with the far-right Twitter account Libs of TikTok posted false allegations that students at one school in the district were "subjected to graphic sexualized content" by a teacher who does drag.

[57] In an August 2022 interview with OANN, the group's founder compared gender-affirming care to the experiments on Auschwitz prisoners by the Nazi SS doctor Joseph Mengele.

Appearing on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Michell called the shooting "expected and predictable", saying that "I don't think [the violence is] gonna stop until we end this evil agenda that is attacking children".

[59] Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Orlando nightclub shooting and press secretary of the LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Florida, described Michell's comments as "a crystal clear threat: 'The mass murders will continue until you do as you're told'".

[60] According to GLAAD, GAG characterizes "LGBTQ+ people as pedophiles falsely and maliciously with the absolutely clear intent of driving fear", perpetuating the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory.