Chelsea Manning shares gender transition story from inside Fort Leavenworth prison

Chelsea Manning gave aninterviewto Cosmopolitan from Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas, serving 35 years for violating the Espionage Act After being convicted in July 2013 as Bradley Manning, she admitted having gender dysphoria and announced plans to transition into a woman She officially changed her name last year and sued for permission to undergo hormone therapy for gender reassignment from within prison Says it's 'painful and awkward' to be forbidden from letting her hair grow Reveals how being deployed to Iraq made her realize life is volatile

By Joel Christie For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:07 EST, 8 April 2015 | Updated: 01:35 EST, 9 April 2015

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning has given in an in-depth interview from behind bars inFort Leavenworth, Kansas, describing the 'painful and awkward' process and conditions of transitioning to a woman from inside a military prison.

Born Bradley Manning, the 27-year-oldformer intelligence analyst was convicted of espionage in July 2013 for sending a trove of classified documents to the WikiLeaks website and was subsequently sentenced to 35 years prison.

One month after being found guilty, Manning announced that he had always identified as female and planned to start living as a woman named Chelsea Elizabeth Manning, officially switching names in April 2014.

In February this year, after suing the Defense Department, Manning was approved for hormone treatment, allowing the former Army private to make the transition into a woman while serving out her sentence.

Speaking:Chelsea Manning, 27, the soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret documents and sentenced to 35 year prison, has given her first in-depth interview since announcing plans to transition into a woman

Manning, a former army private who enlisted as Bradley, has had her name officially changed to Chelsea and recently received approval to undergo hormone therapy for gender reassignment while in prison

She was also permitted to have some amenities, including makeup and underwear, but is not allowed to grow her hair long, which she sees as a major affliction.

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Chelsea Manning shares gender transition story from inside Fort Leavenworth prison