After sentencing, Manning says, 'I am female'

One day after being sentenced to 35 years
in prison for leaking vast archives of secret
government files to WikiLeaks, Pfc. Bradley
Manning said on Thursday that he is female
and wants to be known as Chelsea, New
York Times reports.
In a statement read on the "Today" show
during an appearance by his defense
lawyer, David E. Coombs, Private Manning
said he had felt that he was female since
childhood, a fact that was discussed during
his court-martial.
"As I transition into this next phase of my
life, I want everyone to know the real me,"
the statement said. "I am Chelsea Manning. I
am a female. Given the way that I feel, and
have felt since childhood, I want to begin
hormone therapy as soon as possible. I
hope that you will support me in this
transition."
The statement went on to request that
Private Manning's supporters "refer to me
by my new name and use the feminine
pronoun (except in official mail to the
confinement facility)." It was signed,
"Chelsea Manning."
Mr. Coombs said Private Manning waited to
speak publicly about his gender identity
until after sentencing.
Private Manning's decision to live as a
woman raises questions of how the Army
prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he
will be held, will respond. A spokeswoman
for the prison recently told Courthouse
News that the prison does not provide
hormone therapy or gender-reassignment
surgery. As is the case for all soldiers,
transgender inmates are only eligible for
psychiatric care, she said.
Mr. Coombs acknowledged as much on
"Today." He said that his client had not
signaled an interest in gender-reassignment
surgery, but that he was hopeful that Fort
Leavenworth would "do the right thing" and
provide hormone therapy. Such therapeutic
regimens can help people with male physical
features turn those features more feminine.
Mr. Coombs said that if the military did not
provide hormone therapy willingly, "then I'm
going to do everything in my power to
make sure they are forced to do so."
When asked whether Private Manning's
ultimate goal was to be housed in prison
with women, instead of men, Mr. Coombs
said, "No, I think the ultimate goal is to be
comfortable in her skin and to be the
person that she's never had an opportunity
to be."
Defense lawyers raised the fact that Private
Manning is transgender during the
sentencing phase of his court-martial,
describing the emotional stress he endured
while deployed in Iraq.
Two psychiatrists testified about treating
Private Manning for "gender identity
disorder," a diagnosis for psychological
discomfort with one's sex that the American
Psychiatric Association renamed "gender
dysphoria" last year.