The Pride Flag flies at the Wisconsin State Capitol, Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Last Saturday, Wisconsin state Reps. John Macco (R-Ledgeview), Nate Gustafson (R-Neenah) and Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) attended a public demonstration at Lambeau Field in Green Bay held by the far-right hate group Gays Against Groomers.

The sparsely attended rally with about a dozen participants was a local offshoot of the national organization’s “Worldwide Stop the War on Children Rally” that took place in numerous states. Along with hateful signs that promoted false allegations of coordinated child abuse by transgender people and LGBTQ activists, some signs promoted Assembly Bill 465, a gender-affirming care ban for those under 18 years old. AB 465 passed both chambers of the state legislature earlier this month, but Gov. Tony Evers (D) has pledged to veto the bill along with other anti-trans legislation.

According to the Gays Against Groomers website, they are a non-profit organization that opposes the “sexualization and indoctrination of children through the transitioning and medicalization of minors.” They also falsely claim that trans people do not exist and that “we are witnessing mass scale child abuse being perpetrated on an entire generation.” The Anti-Defamation League classifies Gays Against Groomers as an extremist hate group that collaborates with the extremist groups Moms for Liberty and the Proud Boys, and the Southern Poverty Law Center noted that the group is “one of the most notable propagators of anti-trans rhetoric.”

Two members of Gays Against Groomers vandalized the office of gay New York City Councilmember Erik Bottcher last year after writing anti-gay slurs on the sidewalk outside his house and physically assaulting one of his neighbors. They were later arrested for trespassing. The group’s founder Jaimee Michell has advocated for a federal gender-affirming care ban for minors. Michell is also a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump and has previously spread false conspiracies related to QAnon and Pizzagate. Since its founding in June 2022, the Gays Against Groomers organization has been banned from Venmo, PayPal and Google.

The organization’s Twitter account has previously reposted a picture shared by Macco of him holding up a Gays Against Groomers coffee mug that read, “Parental Rights Matter.”