Chelsea Manning Poses in a Red Bathing Suit for Vogue: ‘Guess This Is What Freedom Looks Like’ – PEOPLE.com

Chelsea Manningis feeling free.

The 29-year-old transgender soldier, who spent seven years in prison forleaking700,000 classified documentsto WikiLeaks, shared a photo of herself walking along the beach in a red one-piece bathing suit. The photo comes from feature on Manning in the September issue ofVogue.

Guess this is what freedom looks like, she captioned the image on Instagram.

The shot of Manning, who smiles as she runs her hands through her hair, was taken by veteran photographerAnnie Leibovitz.

RELATED VIDEO:Chelsea Manning Released from Prison After Seven Years for Leaking Government Secrets

The accompanying story forVoguefollows Manning as she nervously prepares to attend anafter-party for the Lambda Literary Awards, an event that honors LGBTQ writers. As soon as she entered, she was greeted by admirers.

Its a completely different scene than where she grew up in Oklahoma.

I knew that I was different, Manning tellsVogue. I gravitated more toward playing house, but the teachers were always pushing me toward playing the more competitive games with the boys.

She recalls, I spent so much time wondering, Whats wrong with me? Why cant I fit in?

Manning, born Bradley Manning, served a portion of her original 35-year sentence for leaking classified documents.Shortly before finishing his second term as president, Barack Obama shortened the sentence for Manning.

I appreciate the wonderful support that I have received from so many people across the world over these past years, Manning said in an exclusivestatement to ABC News at the time. As I rebuild my life, I remind myself not to relive the past. The past will always affect me and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point, not my final destination.

Manning confirmed that she identified as a woman just one day after her 2013 sentencing. She began her gender transition while in prison, although she had made appearances as a woman since as early as 2010.

See the original post:
Chelsea Manning Poses in a Red Bathing Suit for Vogue: 'Guess This Is What Freedom Looks Like' - PEOPLE.com