Cosmopolitan secures first Chelsea Manning interview

Chelsea Manning seen in a photo she sent to a military supervisor in 2010.

The article marks the first time Manning has spoken "as an army private who leaked classified documents, went to military prison, and sued for the right to transition into living as a woman in jail," according to the story, which is in the magazine's May issue and online.

Manning was convicted of violations of the Espionage Act in 2013 for turning over a trove of classified data to the website WikiLeaks. Since the conviction as Private Bradley Manning, the soldier has transitioned, in prison and aided by federal funding, into a transgender woman.

"I'm fascinated by the character of Chelsea Manning; I'm fascinated by the fact that Julian Assange was played by Benedict Cumberbatch, the hottest thing in town, in a big Hollywood movie and yet Chelsea Manning disappeared from view," Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles said in an interview with CNN.

She pointedly added that without Manning, there would be no WikiLeaks as it's known to the public today.

Manning has penned opinion pieces for The New York Times and The Guardian from prison. With Cosmopolitan, she shared a more personal side, detailing her experience as a transitioning woman in prison.

Writer Abigail Pesta, an investigative journalist and contributor to the magazine, communicated with Manning through letters since the military does not allow prisoners to speak to the press by phone.

Coles estimated that the piece was in the works for about a year. Pesta brought the idea to Coles.

We "were very interested in the transition to Chelsea and the idea of transitioning to being a women in a men's prison. I couldn't get my head around it," she said.

Coles called it an idea that was "hiding in plain sight," but no doubt a huge get for the women's magazine.

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Cosmopolitan secures first Chelsea Manning interview