Why Do Anti-Vaxxers Hate Drag Queens?

Byline Times and The Citizens expose how the far-right has recruited anti-vaxxers to new, hateful causes

Five years ago, Michael Chaves’ social media accounts reflected the life of an ordinary middle-aged man. A former paramedic and divorced father of three, he promoted himself as a DJ and singer, posting Shatneresque covers of popular songs on YouTube and Instagram. If he had any political leanings, they were not expressed.

Last week, Chaves led a group protesting the presence of Drag Queen Story Hour, which is taking place in libraries in various cities across the UK. Bearing placards claiming that drag was “sexualising children” and accusing the police of  “protecting a paedophile”, the group angrily expressed a variety of beliefs commonly associated with the far-right. 

Chaves vociferously denies any association with the far-right and openly mocks those who refer to him as such. So what causes ostensibly apolitical people to become mouthpieces for extremism?

The Citizens and Byline Times took a deep dive into the conspiracy community to find out.

Somewhere around 2018, Chaves swapped his cover versions for conspiracies. Dedicated to promoting his views on freemasons, ‘flat earth’ and the New World Order, his social media output ramped up during the pandemic and he became a strong voice in the anti-vaxx movement. 

The movement consists of a number of separate groups formed on messaging app Telegram, whose beliefs range from wanting to stop the Government mandating the Coronavirus vaccines (which it has never done) to fears that the vaccines are harmful, cause death and (in some cases) are being funded by Bill Gates to facilitate mind-control and cull the population.

Often banned from expressing these views on social media, many of their arguments are formed around the false narratives of free speech and bodily autonomy.

Chaves’ ‘Mad Mix Conspiracies’ Telegram channel currently has over 17,000 followers, some of whom joined him last summer when he attended the home of Jeremy Vine to “serve him notice” regarding his reporting on the pandemic.

For the past two years, The Citizens have tracked the insidious infiltration of the far-right into the anti-vaxx community.

---

The Early Links

The first indication of a far-right presence in the anti-vaxx movement came via links to the Workers of England Union (WEU) which appeared in February 2021.

Run by Robin Tillbrook, a lawyer and leader of the English Democrats Party, the WEU offered legal representation for those whose refusal to vaccinate had cost them their jobs.