TIME U.S. Courts Chelsea Manning Can No Longer Be Called He by the Military, Court Rules Reuters Chelsea Manning is pictured dressed as a woman in this 2010 photograph obtained on August 14, 2013 Manning's legal adviser called the new ruling an important victory"

The U.S. military is now required to refer to former soldier Chelsea Manning with a feminine pronoun or the gender-neutral Private First Class Manning, according to a new court order.

Manning, who is serving a 35-year sentence in a Kansas prison for releasing classified documents to WikiLeaks, is undergoing gender reassignment from male to female. She legally shed her masculine name, Bradley, in 2014, but in January the government objected to Mannings decision to adopt female pronouns in filings, saying the 27-year-old was banned from doing so.

Unless directed otherwise by this honourable court, the government intends to refer to [Manning] using masculine pronouns, the government said last month.

However, a court order now says that Manning cannot be referred to as a he. Lawyers have long alleged that Mannings gender dysphoria has been trivialized and discounted by officials, barring the Oklahoma native from accessing the critical medical attention she needs.

Transgender individuals are still not permitted to serve in the U.S. military.

According to Mannings legal adviser Nancy Hollander, the new ruling is an important victory for Chelsea, who has been mistreated by the government for years.

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Chelsea Manning Can No Longer Be Called ‘He’ by the Military, Court Rules

Patrick Semansky / AP, file

Army Pfc. Chelsea Manning is escorted out of a courthouse in Fort Meade, Maryland, after the third day of her court martial on June 5, 2013.

Chelsea Manning, a transgender woman convicted of leaking national security secrets to Wikileaks, must be referred to with feminine pronouns or in a gender neutral way in legal papers filed in her appeal, an Army Court ruled.

In the order, dated Wednesday, the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals said: "Reference to appellant in all future formal papers filed before this court and all future orders and decisions issued by this court shall either be neutral, e.g., Private First Class Manning or appellant, or employ a feminine pronoun." The order, signed by a court clerk, did not make the military change the name of the case in which Manning is referred to as Bradley and Chelsea.

Manning had sought the court order to force the military to use pronouns that conform to her gender identity; the military had opposed such requests, her supporters said in a statement. The Army and Pentagon didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

In a legal filing dated Feb. 9, the Army opposed the request, citing a lack of legal basis and saying Manning didn't show how it was serve the interest of justice. The Army said it would use standard practice when an appellant's name changed during the course of legal proceedings including both to "avoid confusion" and would refer to Manning with masculine pronouns.

Manning revealed her gender identity as a transgender female after being convicted and sentenced to 35 years in the military prison at Leavenworth in July 2013. In February, the U.S. Army approved hormone therapy for Manning, saying since she'd been clinically diagnosed and as transgender and was confined to a military prison, it was obligated to provide and pay for her treatments.

"This is an important development in Chelsea's fight for adequate medical care for her gender dysphoria," Chase Strangio, an ACLU attorney representing Manning in her lawsuit seeking medical care for gender dysphoria. "That fight continues but at least the government can no longer attempt to erase Chelsea's identity by referring to her as male in every legal filing."

First published March 5 2015, 4:23 PM

Miranda Leitsinger is a reporter at NBC News. She started this role in February 2011. Leitsinger is responsible for long-term enterprise and breaking news coverage. Her beats include recovery from natural disasters and mass shootings, the LGBT community, income inequality, immigration and the Boy Scouts.

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Army Must Call Chelsea Manning A Woman: Court

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Free Chelsea Manning, Blowing the Whistle on War Crime is ...

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 - UPI.com

Army Grants Chelsea Manning #39;s Request For Hormone Therapy
In an Army first, Chelsea Manning, who is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking documents to WikiLeaks, will begin receiving hormone therapy. Follow Jay Str...

By: Newsy

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Army Grants Chelsea Manning's Request For Hormone Therapy - Video

Chelsea Manning #39;s hormone therapy approved by US Army
Pte Chelsea Manning has been approved for hormone therapy while in a US military prison, her lawyers confirm. Manning previously sued for treatment in order ...

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Chelsea Manning's hormone therapy approved by US Army - Video

SYRACUSE -- After seeing the reaction the Chelsea Manning story got on our Facebook page, we reached out to the Justice Department in Syracuse. We wanted to see how the Justice Department would deal with inmates if one was in a similar situation to Chelsea Manning.

The corrections department says at any given time there are 50 inmates who are going through hormone therapy treatment across the state.

Before being approved for treatment inmates must first be diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria by a doctor, just like they would with any other medical condition or disorder.

If it is determined that hormones are needed they will be prescribed and paid for by the Department of Corrections, which in turn is funded by you, the tax payer.

Esteban Gonzales, of the Onondaga County Justice Center, has the responsibility to make sure these inmates are physically safe, even inmates like former Fort Drum Soldier Chelsea Manning, who is in the process of becoming a woman.

Gonzalessays, We are responsible for their care, custody and control. That includes safety and medical treatments.

The Department of Corrections doesn't have a specific price for how much this treatment can cost. It's really the concept that even one penny of tax payers money is going toward this.

Gonzales says, Some people already commit crimes to get a warm place to stay and a few meals. So could the Chelsea Manning story encourage others to try to get locked up just to go through this therapy and have you pay for it? He says Does that happen? Yes. Can I give you specific statistics for here? No, but we would be nave to think it doesnt occur.

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Hormone therapy treatment behind bars

Washington Chelsea Manning, a United States Army soldier serving a 35-year sentence for her role in providing classified documents to WikiLeaks, will now be able to receive hormone therapy at Fort Leavenworth.

It represents a considerable shift for the US military to provide this treatment for Ms. Manning, who identifies as transgender and sued the government to be able to have access to the hormone therapy in order to transition from a man, formerly known as Bradley, to a woman.

The decision speaks to changes that advocacy groups say they see at the Pentagon.

Though transgender troops are currently banned by the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said that he believes the policy should be reviewed. Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James told USA Today that she believes the ban on transgender troops is likely to be reassessed and should be lifted.

And Mara Kiesling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, says she has witnessed openness to thinking about the issue in new ways at lower levels.

We had a phone call here a few weeks ago from a commanding officer, saying, 'We have our first openly trans person in our unit, and we want to do right by them, and we dont understand everything, so help us,' she says. Its a fairly common employer call.

A report written by former US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders and sponsored by an advocacy group estimated that there are some 15,000 transgender troops currently serving.

The decision involving Manning does, however, point to inconsistencies in Pentagon policy. While the Pentagon does not pay for hormone therapy for troops, the Department of Veterans Affairs does cover costs for veterans who qualify, though it will not pay for sexual reassignment surgery.

So if youre in the service and youre a prisoner, you can qualify for this health care. But if youre not a prisoner and youre in the service, and your doctor says you need this, you can get thrown out of the military, Ms. Keisling notes.

Since arriving to begin serving her prison term at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Manning's "top priority" has been advocating for her medically necessary health care, says Chase Strangio, Mannings attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

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What do Chelsea Manning treatments mean for transgender ...

The Army has approved gender-reassignment hormone therapy for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, but says she can't grow out her hair.

The decision on hormone therapy marks the first time the Defense Department has authorized such treatment for an active service member.

But Manning will not yet be allowed to grow her hair to a female grooming standard, according to the Feb. 5 memo from Col. Erica Nelson, commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Manning is serving a 35-year sentence.

The Associated Press obtained the memo Friday. It was first reported Thursday by USA Today.

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

The decision follows a lawsuit 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 man's body.

Nelson wrote that she approved the treatment after carefully considering a recommendation that it was medically appropriate and necessary and after "weighing all associated safety and security risks."

Manning's hairstyle will be revisited seven months after the hormone treatment begins, according to the memo. It didn't say when the treatment would start. An immediate change in hair length "is not supported by the risk assessment and potential risk mitigation measures at this time," Nelson wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union has not withdrawn its lawsuit alleging that the Army was providing some treatment but not enough, 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.

Chase Strangio, an attorney with the ACLU and counsel for Manning in her lawsuit, called the decision an important first step in Manning's treatment regimen.

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Chelsea Manning's Hormone Treatment OK'd, but Not Long ...

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. AP Photo/U.S. Army, File

WASHINGTON -- 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.

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

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Bradley Manning, the army private who leaked government secrets, made a surprising revelation by saying he wants to become a woman and be called ...

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 Manning's hormone treatment was first reported by USA Today.

Calls to military officials at Fort Leavenworth weren't 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 man's body.

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Chelsea Manning one step closer to making transition to a ...