Study: ‘Transgender’ Youth at Highest Risk for Violent Radicalization

A 2022 study found that youth who identify as transgender are at the highest risk of “violent radicalization.”

The study, titled “Meaning in Life, Future Orientation and Support for Violent Radicalization Among Canadian College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” explored the extent to which different demographics were open to violent radicalization.

The abstract explains, “The COVID-19 pandemic has increased levels of uncertainty and social polarization in our societies, compromising young people’s capacity to envision a positive future and maintain a meaningful sense of purpose in life.”

It also goes on to say: 

Within a positive youth development framework, the present study investigates the associations of a positive future orientation, presence of and search for meaning in life, and support for violent radicalization (VR) in a diverse sample of Canadian college students.

The study authors also explained the concept of violent radicalization, saying that it is “a complex and multidimensional phenomenon defined as a process whereby an individual or a group increases support for violence as a legitimate means to reach a specific (e.g., political, social, and religious) goal.”

The study also pointed out that “population-wide attitudes toward legitimizing some forms of violence may increase social polarization and fuel the emergence of extremist groups, thus providing a narrative to channel despair and rage in vulnerable individuals.”

The research included 3,100 participants between the ages of 16 and 25 years old from 18 different colleges in Quebec, Canada. Those who identified as transgender or “gender-diverse” accounted for 2.5 percent of the participants, 79 respondents. 

It found that “transgender and gender diverse students reported higher support for VR compared to students who identified as women.” In fact, youth who identified as transgender or gender-diverse were at the highest risk for violent radicalization. The study reads:

Transgender and gender-diverse youth emerge as the group at the highest risk of support for VR. This is in line with results of a recent survey conducted during the pandemic that highlighted high levels of support for VR as well as psychological distress among gender minorities

Meanwhile, a 2011 study in Sweden found that “​​female-to-males had higher crime rates than female controls … [and] did not differ from male controls. This indicates … that sex reassignment is coupled to increased crime rate in female-to-males. The same was true regarding violent crime.”

The studies garnered new attention after a woman who identified as transgender killed six people, including three young children, at Covenant Christian Academy, a K-6 school in Nashville, Tennessee. 

“We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident,” Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters. “We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.” The manifesto has not been released.

The shooting occurred on the first day of “transgender week of visibility.”

The state of Tennessee also recently approved legislation defending children from medical interventions that seek to change a patient’s gender, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex change operations. 

In one protest in the wake of the legislation, which occurred just south of Nashville in Murfreesboro, Breitbart News captured video of protesters, with one holding a sign reading, “TRANS GIRLS NEED GUNS.”

Spencer Lindquist / Breitbart News

Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com