Chelsea Manning said on Wednesday that she wanted to "give up on everything" after she found out that the military would not allow her to grow her hair out last month.

"I finally decided that maybe I should quit, to give up on everything and everyone: my family, my friends, my supporters, my court-martial appeal, and my other legal battles," Manning wrote in her first post on Medium. "I didnt take the news well. I felt sick. I felt sad. I felt grosslike Frankensteins monster wandering around the countryside avoiding angry mobs with torches and pitch forks."

Manning, who was assigned male at birth and diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2014, is serving a 35-year sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, for leaking government documents to Wikileaks. The military has agreed to give Manning access to hormone therapy, speech therapy and cosmetics. Manning has said that she would appeal the military's decision about her hair length.

After learning of the decision that would require her to keep her hair short, Manning said that she cried all night and spoke to her attorney. After that, she said she got a "second wind."

"After feeling devastated, humiliated, hurt, and rejectedand after wanting to give up on the worldI found my 'second wind' of sorts," she wrote. "I can make it just a little longer. I just hope its not too much longer."

Manning, who also tweetsby communicating with someone who then transcribes messages for her, addedthat she would use Medium to document her experiences in prison.

"I hope to use this platform as a place to document my experience and share my story and, maybe even begin a conversation. Going through such a seismic, existential shift in my lifetransitioning in a military prison presents real, meaningful, and daily challenges," she wrote.

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Chelsea Manning Wanted To 'Give Up On Everything' When ...

WASHINGTON Defense Department officials said Thursday that hormone treatment for gender reassignment has been approved for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.

The officials said the hormone therapy was approved Feb. 5 by Col. Erica Nelson, commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where Manning is serving a 35-year sentence.

The treatment would enable the Army private formerly known as Bradley Manning to make the transition to a woman. Manning changed her legal name in April 2014.

The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The memo approving Mannings hormone treatment was first reported by USA Today.

Calls to military officials at Fort Leavenworth werent immediately returned.

The decision came after a lawsuit was filed in September in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It alleged Manning was at a high risk of self-castration and suicide unless she received more focused treatment for gender dysphoria, the sense of being a woman in a mans body.

The Army was providing some treatment but not enough, according to the lawsuit, including psychotherapy from a mental health specialist who lacked the qualifications to treat gender dysphoria. The Federal Bureau of Prisons and many state and local corrections agencies administer hormone therapy to prisoners with gender dysphoria, but Manning is the first transgender military prisoner to request such treatment.

Such clear disregard of well-established medical protocols constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, ACLU attorney Chase Strangio said in September. Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had approved medical treatment in August, but it hadnt started by the time the ACLU filed the lawsuit.

The 26-year-old former intelligence analyst was convicted in August 2013 of espionage and other offenses for sending more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks while working in Iraq.

Transgender people are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military, but Manning cant be discharged from the service while serving her prison sentence.

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Military approves hormone treatment for WikiLeaks source ...

By Kiri Blakeley For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:27 EST, 19 September 2015 | Updated: 20:41 EST, 19 September 2015

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Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning must continue to wear her hair like a man, says the Army, according to Manning.

'Bad news for me,' Manning, 27, tweeted on Friday. 'Military continues to make me cut my hair to male standards - I'm going to fit in court.' Manning is able to tweet through third parties.

The former intelligence analyst, who was born Bradley Manning, is serving a 35-year sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, for providing almost 750,000 sensitive documents related to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to WikiLeaks.

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Transgender imprisoned soldier Chelsea Manning (above) wants to grow long hair to fit her female identity, but the Army hasn't so far allowed it

Manning broke the news to her followers on Twitter (above) that the Army would continue to make her wear her hair like a man

The above portrait was done by artist Alicia Neal in cooperation with Chelsea, commissioned by the Chelsea Manning Support Network, and titled 'How Chelsea Sees Herself'

Manning, who is transgender, was born male but identifies as female. She was recently spared solitary confinement when she was caught with the Vanity Fair issue with another famous transgender woman in the cover, Caitlyn Jenner.

The military has agreed to allow Manning access to hormone therapy, speech therapy and cosmetics, but ruled on Friday that Manning must continue to cut her hair to 'military standards.'

'Even though the military agrees that allowing Chelsea to grow her hair is a critical part of her treatment plan, they continue to deny her basic human and constitutional rights,' ACLU attorney Chase Strangio said in a statement, according to the Huffington Post.

Manning (above, as Bradley) said two days after her sentence that she wanted to live like a female

In April, Strangio told Cosmopolitan magazine: 'Her fight continues because the government is needlessly prohibiting her from growing her hair, which will continue to cause her significant anxiety.'

In August, Manning lost recreational rights when she was caught with Vanity Fair and an issue of Cosmopolitan that contained an interview with her.

Manning told Cosmo that it is 'painful and awkward' to be forbidden from letting her hair grow. 'I am torn up,' she said. I get through each day okay, but at night, when I'm alone in my room, I finally burn out and crash.'

Manning also recently gave an interview to Paper magazine, in which she said she does not consider herself a 'radical.'

'I believe that we are just at the very beginning of a new epoch,' she told the magazine.

'I think that with ubiquitous and total access to highly connected information technology... we are slowly beginning to blur the lines between the concepts that have seemed so separate for generations, such as the relationships between gender, sexuality, art and work.'

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US Army says Chelsea Manning must keep her hair cut to ...

Below is an actual list of the "charges" that were sent to Chelsea (emphasis added). Even if everything the prison claims is 100% true, there's no way this would justify putting anyone in indefinite solitary confinement.

UPDATE: Chelsea has posted the official charging documents on her twitter here and here.

Here's the list of books and magazines that were taken from Chelsea and not returned: Vanity Fair issue with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover, Advocate, OUT Magazine, Cosmopolitan issue with an interview of Chelsea, Transgender Studies Quarterly, novel about trans issues "A Safe Girl to Love," book "Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy -- The Many Faces of Anonymous," book "I Am Malala," 5 books by Robert Dorkin, legal documents including the Senate Torture Report, book: "Hidden Qualities that Make Us Influential."

None of these books or magazines should be considered contraband, nor do they pose a danger to anyone. It's terrifying that the U.S. government would target a prisoner so unfairly with so little justification.

Longterm solitary confinement is a form of torture. No one deserves this cruel and unusual psychological punishment, especially not a whistleblower like Chelsea Manning who many people believe should not be in prison in the first place.

Read more from the original source:
Stop the government from putting Chelsea Manning in ...

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. Army private serving 35 years in prison for leaking government documents, said she was found guilty on four charges of prison misconduct, though she was spared the possible sentence of solitary confinement.

Manning tweeted about the results of her hearing with the prison board Tuesday, saying she was found guilty on all four charges. Manning was charged with disrespect, disorderly conduct, prohibited property and medicine misuse by officials of the United States Disciplinary Barracks, the maximum-security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where she is serving time for charges including violating the Espionage Act.

"I was found guilty of all 4 charges @ today's board; I am receiving 21 days of restrictions on recreation--no gym, library or outdoors," she wrote.

Books and magazines were found in Manning's cell, prompting the charge of prohibited property.

Books recovered include I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous by Gabriella Coleman. Magazines confiscated include the Vanity Fair "Call me Caitlyn" issue with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover and a Cosmopolitan with an interview of Manning.

The medicine misuse charge was imposed for an expired tube of toothpaste.

Manning said the disciplinary action will likely add years to her sentence when it comes time for parole hearings.

Related UPI Stories

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Chelsea Manning guilty of prison misconduct - UPI.com

Story highlights

The former U.S. Army soldier, already imprisoned for providing classified documents to Wikileaks, was found guilty Tuesday on four charges, the inmate tweeted.

"I am receiving 21 days of restrictions on recreation -- no gym, library or outdoors," Manning tweeted.

Those four charges include medicine misuse, prohibited property, disorderly conduct and disrespect.

The medicine charge came after officials discovered an expired tube of toothpaste in her cell, according to a statement on ChelseaManning.org.

The contraband came in the form of books and magazines -- such as a copy of Vanity Fair magazine featuring Caitlyn Jenner and a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine featuring an interview with Manning. But according to ChelseaManning.org, she received the reading material legally through the prison's open mail system.

The disorderly conduct and disrespect charges both stem from an incident during dinner on July 2. Officials accused Manning of "sweeping food onto the floor" and conducting herself "in a contemptuous manner by being disrespectful to the cadre present." ]

A U.S. Military spokesman declined to comment, citing that the proceedings were "protected by the Privacy Act of 1974."

The statement on Manning's website offers her explanation of what happened.

"The catalyst for this attack on Chelsea seems to have been an incident in the mess hall where she may have pushed, brushed, or accidentally knocked, a small amount of food off of her table," the statement said. "She then asked to speak to her lawyer when confronted by a guard. The absurd charges were tacked on later."

According to the statement, the four charges could have been punishable by "indefinite solitary confinement."

"These absurd charges against Chelsea, and the outrageous threat of indefinite solitary confinement, are clearly an attempt to silence Chelsea's important voice and cut her off from the outside world," the statement said.

RELATED: Chelsea Manning breaks silence, accuses U.S. of lying about Iraq

Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth, an Army prison in eastern Kansas, for leaking a trove of classified documents to Wikileaks. She was convicted of violating the Espionage Act.

Manning, who was born male and was formerly known as Bradley Manning, said two years ago that she is female. She eventually filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming she "has been denied access to medically necessary treatment" for her gender disorder.

RELATED: Bradley Manning wants to live as a woman, be known as Chelsea

Manning regularly publishes op-eds in The Guardian about transgender rights, the prison system and government transparency, according to the statement. She recently won the ability to begin hormone therapy after threatening to sue the military.

RELATED: Chelsea Manning sues to get transgender medical treatment

CNN's Barbara Starr and Eugene Scott contributed to this report.

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Chelsea Manning convicted over magazines, toothpaste ...

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning was found guilty Tuesday on four disciplinary charges and given 21 days of recreational restrictions for breaking military prison rules keeping expired toothpaste and Vanity Fairs CaitlynJenner cover, among other things, in her cell, her attorney said.

Mannings attorney, Chase Strangio with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement Manning was convicted during a four-hour, closed-door disciplinary hearing without legal representation. A message from Mannings Twitter account said her restrictions include no gym, library or outdoors.

[5 of the most famous federal whistleblowers]

Now these convictions will follow me through to any parole/clemency hearing forever, the tweet said. Was expecting to be in minimum custody in February, now years added.

The transgender Army private was convicted in 2013 of espionage for leaking 700,000 top secret military documents to the whistleblower news site WikiLeaks and was sentenced to 35 years at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

In July, she was written up for possessing prohibited property, such as books and magazines, while she was in administrative segregation; medicine misuse for having expired toothpaste; disorderly conduct for brushing food onto the floor, and disrespect, according to the Associated Press.

Manning faced a maximum sentence of indefinite solitary confinement.

[Chelsea Manning will begin gender treatment in military prison]

The U.S. military said last week it was committed to a fair and equitable process, during Mannings disciplinary hearing, which it called a common practice in correctional systems to hold prisoners accountable to facility rules.

But just days before Mannings hearing, a message from her Twitter account claimed she had been denied access to the prisons legal library.

Support for Manning swelled. More than 100,000 people signed an online petition to urge officials to make her disciplinary hearing public.

When I spoke to Chelsea earlier today she wanted to convey the message to supporters that she is so thankful for the thousands of people from around the world who let the government know we are watching and scrutinizing what happens to her behind prison walls, Strangio said in a statement to Vanity Fair. It was no doubt this support that kept her out of solitary confinement.

[Chelsea Manning, imprisoned for leaking secrets, to tweet from Fort Leavenworth]

But the fact that Chelsea had to face todays four-hour Disciplinary Board without counsel and will now be punished for daring to share her voice sets a concerning precedent for the remaining decades of her incarceration.

Chelseas ridiculous convictions today will not silence her, Mannings other attorney, Nancy Hollander, tweeted after the hearing. And we will fight even harder in her appeal to overturn all her convictions.

The military would not release any information on Mannings disciplinary hearing, citing the Privacy Act of 1976, according to the Associated Press.

(This post has been updated to correct the spelling of Caitlyn Jenners first name.)

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Chelsea Manning found guilty for prison contraband ...

Convicted national security leaker Chelsea Manning was found guilty Tuesday of violating prison rules and will receive three weeks of recreational restrictions at the Kansas military prison where she's serving her 35-year sentence, her attorney said.

The transgender Army private was accused of having a copy of Vanity Fair with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover and an expired tube of toothpaste, among other things. Her attorney, Chase Strangio of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a news release that Manning was convicted of all charges after a closed four-hour disciplinary board hearing in which she had no counsel.

Manning received 21 days of recreational restrictions limiting access to the gym, library and outdoors. The maximum punishment she could have faced was indefinite solitary confinement.

The U.S. Army has declined to release any information on the results of the hearing, citing the Privacy Act of 1976. The military said in a statement last week that it is committed to "a fair and equitable process," and called such proceedings "a common practice in correctional systems to hold prisoners accountable to facility rules."

The prison infractions include possession of prohibited property in the form of books and magazines while under administrative segregation; medicine misuse over the toothpaste; disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor; and disrespect. All relate to alleged misconduct on July 2 and 9.

"When I spoke to Chelsea earlier today she wanted to convey the message to supporters that she is so thankful for the thousands of people from around the world who let the government know that we are watching and scrutinizing what happens to her behind prison walls," Strangio said.

Strangio credited public support for keeping Manning out of solitary confinement. Petitions signed by 100,000 people were delivered Tuesday to the U.S. Army by digital rights group Fight for the Future and others.

In addition to the recreational restrictions, the convictions that are now on her record could be cited in future hearings concerning parole or clemency, which could delay her transition to a less restrictive custody status, Strangio said.

The intelligence analyst, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for sending more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks while working in Iraq. She is serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth for leaking reams of war logs, diplomatic cables and battlefield video to the anti-secrecy website in 2010.

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Chelsea Manning Found Guilty of Violating Prison Rules ...

Chelsea Manning supporters hold up banners near the Pentagon before delivering more than 100,000 signatures to the US army calling for new charges to be dropped. Photograph: Mike Avender/FFTF

Chelsea Manning has been found guilty of possessing unapproved reading material by a panel at Fort Leavenworth prison but will be spared the indefinite solitary confinement that had reportedly been among her possible sentences, according to a tweet sent from her official account.

Related: Same-sex marriage isn't equality for all LGBT people. Our movement can't end | Chelsea Manning

Instead the prison board ruled during a disciplinary hearing held on Tuesday that Manning will face 21 days of restrictions on her recreational activities, including no access to a gym, a library or the outdoors.

Manning was given a 35-year sentence for leaking US state secrets to WikiLeaks.

I was found guilty of all four charges at todays board; I am receiving 21 days of restrictions on recreation no gym, library or outdoors, announced a tweet sent from Mannings official Twitter account, @xychelsea.

A petition of more than 100,000 signatures was delivered to the US army liaison office in Congress on Tuesday asking that the charges against Manning be dropped.

Chase Strangio, Mannings attorney at the ACLU, said after the verdict that Manning was so thankful for the thousands of people from around the world who let the government know that we are watching and scrutinizing what happens to her behind prison walls.

It was no doubt this support that kept [Chelsea] out of solitary confinement, said Strangio.

Manning was accused of disrespect, disorderly conduct and other violations under the rules of the Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas where she is serving her sentence.

She was also charged with medicine misuse after a search of her cell on 9 July uncovered an expired tube of toothpaste.

A tube of anti-cavity toothpaste, MKIC, was found in your possession past its expiration date of 9 April 2015. You are involved in violation of ACC Policy Letter 16, using, possessing, handling or storing of medicine, except as authorized by the facility medical staff. Failure to take medication as prescribed by medical staff, read the charging documents, which were also shared on Mannings twitter account.

According to Manning other items confiscated from her cell included the memoir I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, a novel featuring trans women called A Safe Girl to Love, the LGBT publication Out Magazine, the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair and a copy of Cosmopolitan that included an interview with Manning.

Her lawyers said they had been barred from Tuesdays four-hour hearing and that prior to the hearing Manning was barred from accessing the prisons library.

Strangio said the fact that Manning faced the disciplinary board without counsel sets a concerning precedent for the remainder of her incarceration.

Not only does this punishment mean the immediate loss of library and recreation for Chelsea, but she also will carry these infractions through her parole and clemency process and will be held longer in the more restrictive custody where she is now incarcerated, said Strangio.

No one should have to face the lingering threat of solitary confinement for reading and writing about the conditions we encounter in the world. Chelseas voice is critical to our public discourse about government accountability and trans justice and we can only preserve it if we stay vigilant in our advocacy on her behalf.

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Chelsea Manning found guilty but spared solitary ...

Alford writes that whistleblowers have "seen what one is not supposed to know." In exposing a wrong, they have risked and lost much -- job, status, security, liberty, friends. To come to a resolution, they would also lose their faith in the adages we buy into as the currency of the social order: life is fair, the system isn't stacked against us, the individual matters, the truth shall set us free.

Nan Levinson

Author of 'War Is Not a Game: The New Antiwar Soldiers and the Movement They Built'

We as a culture do not like women as autonomous beings. We do not support them -- sometimes we punish them.

The free flow of information is necessary for a democratic society, and this flow cannot be purely in the hands of government. This is why the rights to expression and a free and open press are among the most widely recognized rights on earth.

Obama's Justice Department has brought more than twice as many prosecutions for the crime of leaking confidential information to journalists as the combined total of all presidents back to Woodrow Wilson. Whether you agree with Obama's track record of such prosecutions, you'd have to admit that treating Petraeus differently would be indefensible hypocrisy and elitism.

Cliven Bundy isn't the only one saying strange things; take our Week to Week news quiz to see if you can identify the others.

John Zipperer

Vice president of media & editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California

Hopefully today's name change, so meaningful to me personally, can also raise awareness of the fact that we trans* people exist everywhere in America today, and that we must jump through hurdles every day just for being who we are.

Chelsea Manning

Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, military whistleblower and democracy advocate

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Pride Committee, under a new board, did the LGBT community proud by finally conferring one of our community's highest honors upon one of its most courageous individuals, Private Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning.

Andy Thayer

Anti-war activist and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network in Chicago

It should be a matter of national and mass priority to pursue these things and the government that refuses to pursue them can scarcely be called a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" in any meaningful way.

Our state of affairs goes against a pinnacle of American justice, equality before law, facilitating everything from war crimes, to torture, to domestic spying, to a predatory, ravenous Wall Street that feeds on the middle class with impunity.

My fellow Americans: I deliver this address at a time of great distress in our nation. Never before have we faced challenges of such severity as we d...

C. Robert Gibson

Independent journalist published in Guardian, the Washington Post, Al Jazeera America, NPR, and other publications

This has been -- officially at least -- one of those quiet weeks for political reporters. But members of both House and Senate are in this quiet time having to think hard about the uncomfortably hot potato recently tossed into their laps by President Obama.

What an amazing year for the movement of movements that continues to develop here in the United States and around the world.

Dennis Trainor

Creator of Acronym TV/ Director- American Autumn: an Occudoc

Tutu was part of a tsunami of change that challenged and toppled the walls of apartheid. But he was not finished then. He has continued to fight onwards to publicize the plight and agitate for positive change.

Every American should be outraged that leakers and whistleblowers are being prosecuted under an espionage statute without ever having to show they meant to harm the U.S. or that any harm actually occurred.

Trevor Timm

Executive Director, Freedom of the Press Foundation

This week's Real Talk With Rob Smith takes on homophobia in hip-hop, Russia, and Chelsea Manning. ...

Rob Smith

Iraq war veteran, author, public speaker and LGBT activist

As the State Department and the DoD reluctantly concluded at Manning's trial, little if any verifiable damage was indeed done to the United States. There is no denying that the disclosures were embarrassing and awkward, but that is not worth most of a man's life.

Peter Van Buren

Author of "Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent" and "We Meant Well"

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