A new study has established a correlation between support for gender ideology and left-wing authoritarian attitudes, including a willingness to justify political violence, according to researchers from Rutgers University, the Network Contagion Research Institute, and the Manhattan Institute. The findings come at a time when the White House has begun treating gender ideology-driven extremism as a national security concern, and they offer empirical backing for a connection that has been the subject of intense public debate.
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The study, titled “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?” surveyed 1,208 U.S. adults. Researchers measured participants on two scales. First, they used the Clinical Gender Affirmation Scale (CGAS), which gauges how strongly someone supports gender ideology based on a series of statements. These included the ideas that failing to affirm a transgender person’s gender identity increases the risk of serious psychological distress, that using a chosen name is a necessary form of support, that people should be supported in expressing their transgender identity, and that using preferred pronouns is a necessary form of support.
Participants were then ranked on the Left-Wing Authoritarianism (LWA) scale, which measures authoritarian attitudes, traits, and behaviors associated with leftism. A participant’s score factored in their political identity, belief in so-called “trans genocide,” the perceived threat posed by certain groups, and their willingness to justify six examples of political violence: killing President Donald J. Trump, killing Charlie Kirk, killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, committing arson attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings, committing property damage against the wealthy, and committing violence against police officers.
The study concluded that CGAS and LWA were correlated. “These findings suggest that gender ideology is associated with LWA and willingness to justify political violence,” the study reads. While the researchers emphasized that the work focused on correlation rather than causation, it substantiates claims that support for gender ideology is associated with a willingness to justify political violence. The study also shows how support for far-left political violence relies on a permission structure stemming from perceived victimhood.
The researchers wrote that “identities organized around grievance, perceived victimization, and injustice, when paired with authoritarian or punitive dispositions, can predict support for anti-democratic or violent political action.” They described a common mechanism in which “ideological content that names an oppressor class, certifies ongoing victimization, and locates remedy in coercive institutional or social action” supplies authoritarian psychology with “morally justified targets.”
The findings carry practical implications beyond academic debate. Back in May, the White House released a new strategy to counteract transgender extremism and anarchism, as well as secular political groups more broadly. “We will use all the tools constitutionally available to us to map them at home, identify their membership, and use law enforcement tools to cripple them operationally before they can maim or kill the innocent,” said Sebastian Gorka, Senior Director for Counterterrorism.
The study’s findings point to a troubling spiritual reality: when a person’s identity is rooted in grievance and perceived victimization rather than in the truth of who God created them to be, it can harden into an ideology that justifies violence against those who disagree. Scripture calls people to find their identity in Christ, not in resentment or a sense of oppression. The study also demonstrates how a particular ideology can become a permission structure that downplays the sanctity of human life. Believers should pray for those caught in this ideology, that they would experience God’s love and truth; for those leading the counterterrorism effort, that their work would be carried out with wisdom and guidance; and for our nation’s leaders to protect the lives of all Americans.
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(Excerpt from The National Pulse. Photo Credit: Emma Rahmani/baseimage via Canva Teams).
