February 17, 2015|4:56 pm

U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier convicted of giving classified state documents to WikiLeaks, is pictured dressed as a woman in this 2010 photograph obtained on August 14, 2013. Manning, sentenced for leaking classified U.S. documents, said in an August 23, 2013 statement read on NBC News that he is female and wants to live as a woman named Chelsea.

Leading social conservative activist Tony Perkins has labeled the U.S. Army's recent approval of inmate Bradley Manning's sex reassignment hormone therapy as a sign that the Obama administration is more devoted to serving convicted traitors than helping the well-deserving veterans who have risked their lives to protect America.

USA Todayfirst reported that the Army revealed in a Feb. 5 memo that it will fund the sex transition hormone therapy for WikiLeaks whistleblower private Bradley Manning, who changed his name to Chelsea Manning in 2013 and is serving a 35-year sentence after he was convicted of espionage for leaking classified documents.

"Bradley Manning is in prison for treason and now the Obama administration wants to help him break another law: nature's," Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, wrote on his Washington Update."The national security leaker, whose espionage put countless Americans at risk, is demanding that the U.S. Army not just recognize, but finance his gender transition."

"Now, two years later, it seems the Army is more than willing to cater to the traitor's whims, including footing the bill for thousands of dollars in radical hormone therapy," Perkins added.

Col. Erica Nelson, the commandant of the Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas, wrote in the Feb. 5 memo that she felt its was medically necessary for Manning to undergo the procedure. Nelson's approval comes after Manning filed a lawsuit last September for access to the treatment and added that if he did not receive the treatment he would commit suicide. Manning has been legally represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Perkins added that given the growing discontent from veterans not being able to get the medical services they need from Veterans Affairs, its rather peculiar to see a "traitor" pampered with an "elective" treatment.

"While thousands of honorable veterans suffer serial abandonment in VA clinics across the country, the Obama administration is rewarding an avowed traitor with expensive and elective treatment," Perkins wrote. "It's a sad commentary on this administration when an act of treason entitles you to better care than most of the men and women who have honorably served this country!"

Manning's therapy approval is just another cog in the president's broad agenda, Perkins continued.

Link:
Gov't Funding of WikiLeaker Sex Change Shows Obama Admin Cares More About Traitors Than Honorable Veterans, Tony ...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, has been approved for hormone therapy by the U.S. Army.

Manning was convicted of leaking classified military documents to the journalistic organization Wikileaks in 2013. She is serving a 35-year sentence with possible parole.

Manning announced in August of 2013 that she was a woman. "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me," Manning said in the statement at the time. "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."

In September of last year, Manning sued the Department of Defense for denying her hormone therapy. She is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union

"After carefully considering the recommendation that (hormone treatment) is medically appropriate and necessary, and weighing all associated safety and security risks presented, I approve adding (hormone treatment) to Inmate Manning's treatment plan," Col. Erica Nelson, the commandant of the Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas, wrote in a Feb. 5 memo obtained by USA Today.

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Hormone therapy approved for Chelsea Manning

Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, has won the right to she and her.

In a court order issued on Wednesday, it was made adamantly clear that henceforth, Chelsea Manning must be referred to in female or gender-neutral terms.

The court order stated, All future formal papers filed before this court and all future orders and decisions issued by this court shall either be neutral, eg Private First Class Manning or appellant, or employ a feminine pronoun.

However, Chelsea Manning will remain Bradley Manning, or he and him, for the previous legal proceedings before his/her transition.

Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which was involved in Mannings defense, said, The court rightly recognized that dignifying Chelseas womanhood is not the trivial matter that the government attempted to frame it as.

Chelsea Manning, who was convicted in 2013 of handing over more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks, has already won the right to the name change, the hormone therapy for her transition, and even womens underwear.

This is an important distinction for Chelsea, both personally and legally, Chelsea Mannings attorney, Nancy Hollander, told People. But its most important on a personal level.

You would not like being a called a man, Hollander said to a female journalist. And neither does she.

Despite all of her victories, Chelsea Manning hasnt won the right to live in female quarters where she is imprisoned at Ft. Leavenworth, Hollander said. But it seems Chelsea Manning wont fight that.

Hollander said of Chelsea Manning, She is housed with male prisoners, and will continue to be housed with them.

Read the original:
Chelsea Manning Can No Longer Be Referred To With Male Pronouns, Says Court Order

Getty Images

US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning is escorted out of a military court facility during the sentencing phase of his trial August 20, 2013 in Fort Meade, Maryland.

The Guardian announced on Tuesday that it had hired Chelsea Manning, a self-proclaimed U.S. whistleblower, as a contributing opinion writer.

Manning is a former U.S. Army private who was convicted in 2013 of leaking classified information to Wikileaks. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for what was deemed as one of the country's biggest leaks since the Pentagon Papers more than a generation ago.

Manning now identifies as transgender and was previously known as Bradley Manning.

The former U.S. private will write "occasionally from Fort Leavenworth prison on the subjects of war, gender and freedom of information" for the British publication's U.S. arm, Guardian Editor-In-Chief Katharine Viner wrote in a internal memo obtained by Politico. Viner said Manning will not be paid.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read the original here:
Guardian hires Wikileaks-player Chelsea Manning

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas The U.S. military has approved hormone treatments for gender reassignment requested by Army private Bradley Manning, who is currently serving a 35-year sentence on espionage charges.

According to reports, the treatments were approved byCol. Erica Nelson, commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The decision comes after a lawsuit was filed last September alleging that the Army was not doing enough to address his gender dysphoria, and that if he did not receive the treatment, he was at high risk for suicide.

Manning had changed his name to Chelsea in August 2013 after being sentenced to prison foradmitting to leaking classified information to Wikileaks, which includedmore than 700,000 documents, including battlefield reports and U.S. Embassy cables.

As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me, he wrote in a statement. 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.

This months decision to allow the 26-year-old Manning to obtain the treatments is stated to be the first in military history.

Manning

After carefully considering the recommendation that [hormone treatment] is medically appropriate and necessary, and weighing all associated safety and security risks presented, I approve adding [hormone treatment] to inmate Mannings treatment plan, Nelson wrote in a memo.

We are thrilled for Chelsea that the government has finally agreed to initiate hormone therapy as part of her treatment plan, Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told CNN. This is an important first step in Chelseas treatment regimen and one that is in line with the recommendations of all of her doctors and the basic requirements of the Eighth Amendment.

While Manning was granted his request for hormone therapy, he was also disallowed from growing his hair long.

The military continues to refuse to let Chelsea grow her hair like other female prisoners, a critical part of her treatment plan that has been recognized by her doctors, Strangio said.

See original here:
U.S. Military Approves Bradley Manning’s ‘Gender Reassignment’ Hormone Treatment

Chelsea Manning, the Wikileaks superstar we used to know as Bradley Manning, will now be referred to as she or a gender-neutral pronoun in all future court proceedings.

Josh Wolford reported earlier today on the court ruling that means that the U.S. military must stop referring to Manning as he or male.

This is an important victory for Chelsea, who has been mistreated by the government for years, said Mannings attorney Nancy Hollander in a statement. Though only a small step in a long legal fight, my co-counsel, Vincent Ward, Captain Dave Hammond, and I are thrilled that Chelsea will be respected as the woman she is in all legal filings.

Manning fought for hormonal treatment in her transition to womanhood. She won that only after filing a lawsuit in September of last year.

She brings this action to compel defendants to treat her serious medical needs consistent with their obligation under the Constitution, said the lawsuit. Mannings lawyers claimed that lack of hormonal treatment would cause Manning to suffer continued pain, depression and anxiety and that she is at an extremely high risk of self-castration and suicidality.

It took the DOD until February of this year to finally give in.

After carefully considering the recommendation that (hormone treatment) is medically appropriate and necessary, and weighing all associated safety and security risks presented, I approve adding (hormone treatment) to Inmate Mannings treatment plan, wrote Col. Erica Nelson in a memo.

Mannings fight which has all but overshadowed the reason she is imprisoned in the first place is yet another chapter in Americas struggle to find its place in the gender identity discussion. Other countries and cultures have made peace with this issue long ago. But America seems to want to fight this out on its own, as though the experience of no other cultures has any relevance to us.

One clue to Americas difficulty with gender identity issues lies in how we label it. While in the U.S. Army, Bradley Manning was diagnosed with gender identity disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) calls this gender dysphoria. This term is more acceptable to transgendered persons in general because is only addresses the discontent that transgendered persons feel with the anatomical gender of their birth. Calling it a disorder stigmatizes and marginalizes people who honestly never felt comfortable with their own bodies.

Manning says she has felt female since childhood. This is a statement that many Americans are squeamish about. They say things like:

Continued here:
Chelsea Manning: Struggling to Learn to Call People What They Want to Be Called

In a legal fight overs pronouns, chalk one up for gender rights.

Chelsea Manning, the Wikileaks leaker formerly known as Bradley Manning, will now be referred to as she or a gender-neutral pronoun in all future court proceedings.

This is an important victory for Chelsea, who has been mistreated by the government for years, said Mannings attorney Nancy Hollander in a statement. Though only a small step in a long legal fight, my co-counsel, Vincent Ward, Captain Dave Hammond, and I are thrilled that Chelsea will be respected as the woman she is in all legal filings.

What this means, in effect, is that the US military must stop referring to Chelsea Manning as a man.

In September of last year Manning sued the US Department of Defense, claiming she had been denied access to medically necessary treatment in connection with a gender disorder.

She brings this action to compel defendants to treat her serious medical needs consistent with their obligation under the Constitution, said the lawsuit. Mannings lawyers claimed that lack of hormonal treatment would cause Manning to suffer continued pain, depression and anxiety and that she is at an extremely high risk of self-castration and suicidality.

Manning accused the military of stalling.

But then last month, the DoD gave in.

After carefully considering the recommendation that (hormone treatment) is medically appropriate and necessary, and weighing all associated safety and security risks presented, I approve adding (hormone treatment) to Inmate Mannings treatment plan, wrote Col. Erica Nelson in a memo.

Above: Army Image of Chelsea Manning, in 2012, when known as Bradley Manning

See more here:
Chelsea Manning Wins Fight to Be Called “She”

The United States Army Court of Appeals has ruled that Private First Class Chelsea Manning formerly known as Bradley Manning will be referred to using a neutral or feminine pronoun in all future court proceedings.

Nancy Hollander, Mannings attorney, praised the Wednesday court order in a statement, saying she and her co-counsels are thrilled that Chelsea will be respected as the woman she is in all legal filings.

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Manning is serving a 35-year sentence for her conviction under the Espionage Act for releasing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the organization WikiLeaks.

Soon after being sentenced in mid-2013, Mannings attorneys released a statement requesting that she be referred to using feminine pronouns and called by the name Chelsea Manning.

The ACLU filed a suit on behalf of Manning in September 2014, demanding that she receive treatment for gender dysphoria, including psychological treatment, hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery.

The case is still pending before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

In February, USA Today reported that the U.S. Army approved providing Manning with hormone therapy.

Read the original:
Court rules for Manning in gender pronoun fight

WASHINGTON - Chelsea Manning, the US soldier serving a 35-year prison sentence for a massive document leak, should be addressed in gender-neutral or feminine terms in court documents as she transitions into a woman, judges said.

The move comes a month after the US Army approved hormone therapy for Manning's gender "reassignment" -- in a first for the American military.

"All future formal papers filed before this court and all future orders and decisions issued by this court shall either be neutral, eg Private First Class Manning or appellant, or employ a feminine pronoun" said a court order Wednesday.

However "in respect to historic fact," the court will retain masculine wordage used in previous decisions, including Manning's conviction.

Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, is incarcerated in Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

"The court rightly recognised that dignifying Chelsea's womanhood is not the trivial matter that the government attempted to frame it as," said Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which was involved in Manning's defence.

Manning, 27, had already secured permission last year to be known under the name "Chelsea" instead of "Bradley."

The former intelligence analyst also had been allowed to wear women's underwear following a decision last year, and to undergo psychotherapy.

Manning was convicted in August 2013 of espionage and other offences after admitting to handing over more than 700,000 classified documents to the WikiLeaks website while stationed in Iraq.

Continued here:
Address Chelsea Manning in female, gender-neutral terms

FORT MEADE, MD - FEBRUARY 23: Army Private Bradley Manning is escorted away from his Article 32 hearing February 23, 2012 in Fort Meade, Maryland. During the hearing, Manning deferred his plea to the 22 charges against him and deferred a decision over whether he wanted a military judge or a jury to hear his case. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Mark Wilson

Updated: 10:45 p.m. ET

FORT MEADE, Md. Pfc. Bradley Manning put U.S. military secrets into the hands of Osama bin Laden himself, prosecutors said Monday as the Army intelligence analyst went on trial over the biggest leak of classified material in American history.

Manning's lawyers countered by arguing that he was a "young, naive but good-intentioned" soldier whose struggle to fit in as a gay man in the military made him feel he "needed to do something to make a difference in this world."

Manning, 25, has admitted turning over hundreds of thousands of documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, pleading guilty earlier this year to charges that could bring 20 years behind bars. But the military pressed ahead with a court-martial on more serious charges, including aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.

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In what came as a surprise, Army Private Bradley Manning pleaded guilty to ten criminal charges in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S...

Prosecutors said they will present evidence that bin Laden requested and obtained from another al Qaeda member Afghanistan battlefield reports and State Department cables published by WikiLeaks.

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