Bradley Manning Seeks Gender Change
Bradley Manning: 'I Am Chelsea Manning. I Am a Female'
WASHINGTON—Pfc. Bradley Manning said Thursday that he wants to live his life as a woman and be known as Chelsea Manning as he begins a 35-year prison term for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks.
Less than 24 hours after being sentenced for being the source of one of the biggest classified leaks in U.S. history, Pfc. Manning said that he wants to begin hormone therapy and be known by a new name.
"As I transition to the next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me," he said in a statement made on NBC's "Today Show" by his attorney, David Coombs. "I am Chelsea Manning."
In a statement, Army spokesman George Wright said "The Army does not provide hormone therapy or sex-reassignment surgery for gender identity disorder."
Bradley Manning is escorted to a security vehicle in Fort Meade, Md., on Tuesday.
In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Bradley Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Mr. Manning emailed his military therapist the photo with a letter in which he described his issues with gender identity.
Pfc. Manning's sexuality became a focal point of his defense during the court-martial at Fort Meade, Md.
His defense team argued that the 25-year-old former Army intelligence analyst suffered from gender-identity issues that were largely ignored by commanders who should have removed him from the position in Iraq, where he had access to classified U.S. documents.
Weeks before his arrest, Pfc. Manning sent a photograph to an Army officer showing the young Army soldier dressed in makeup and a wig. In the email, titled "My Problem," Pfc. Manning confessed to his struggle with sexuality.
On Thursday, Pfc. Manning made it clear that he wants to live the rest of his life as a woman.
"I am female," he said in the statement. "Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible."
On Wednesday, a military judge sentenced Pfc. Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking 700,000 military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. He will be dishonorably discharged and lose all military pay and benefits. Mr. Manning could be eligible for parole in about eight years.
His legal team is asking President Barack Obama to pardon Pfc. Manning, who apologized for leaking the documents, but said that he was trying to bring attention to what he viewed as morally questionable U.S. foreign policy actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the globe.
Bookmarks