Category Archives: Chelsea Manning

Chelsea Manning Announces Legal Name Change in Optimistic Letter

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The WikiLeaks source announced today that she is now legally recognized as 'Chelsea Elizabeth Manning.' Manning also provided an update on her current state of affairs, including whether or not she will receive health care.

An artist's rendering of Chelsea Manning as she sees herself.

Earlier today, Chelsea Manning issued a statement announcing that her name change, requested last month, has been approved by a Kansas court.

"Today is an exciting day," Manning's statement readsas published on the blog for her support network. "A judge in the state of Kansas has officially ordered my name to be changed from 'Bradley Edward Manning' to 'Chelsea Elizabeth Manning.' I've been working for months for this change, and waiting for years."

Manning, who is serving a 35-year sentence on charges stemming from her leak of classified documents to the public and website WikiLeaks, announced in August of last year that she is transgender. This came after years of speculation over Manning's gender identity, considered to be somewhat of an open secret among trans activists since as early as 2011.

"It's worth noting that in both mail and in-person, I've often been asked, 'Why are you changing your name?'"Manning continues. "The answer couldn't be simpler: because it's a far better, richer, and more honest reflection of who I am and have always been a woman named Chelsea."

Manning goes on to detail many of the often tedious, basic obstacles trans individuals often face, discussing the need for trans people to be able to access healthcare, and explains the benefit of having public accommodations protections. She writes, "It's the most banal things... that in our current society keep us from having the means to live better, more productive, and safer lives."

Her statement reads with optimism for a better world, and even hope for her own future.

"Now, I am waiting on the military to assist me in accessing healthcare," Manning writes, referring to her request to begin hormone replacement therapy. "In August, I requested that the military provide me with a treatment plan consistent with the recognized professional standards of care for trans health. They quickly evaluated me and informed me that they came up with a proposed treatment plan. However, I have not yet seen their treatment plan, and in over eight months, I have not received any response as to whether the plan will be approved or disapproved, or whether it follows the guidelines of qualified health professionals."

Manning notes in her letter's closing that she prefers "Trans*" with an asterisk, which many use as an umbrella term to describe individuals who fall both inside and out of the "male/female" gender binary.

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Chelsea Manning Announces Legal Name Change in Optimistic Letter

Fox News Calls Chelsea Manning a ‘Gender-Bender’

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Fox News uses the GLAAD-defined defamatory slur 'gender-bender' to refer to Chelsea Manning, adding to the network's long track record of deprecating trans individuals.

This morning, Fox News continued its streak of insensitive coverage of trans issues when on-screen text referred to Chelsea Manning as a "gender bender," while hosts referred to her as "male."

The Fox & Friendsteam made further factual errors, stating that Manning's birth certificate was changed Manning's announcement said that the judge had granted her a name change, not that her birth certificate had been in any way updated and claimed that Manning wants to be housed with female prisoners, something Manning's attorney David Coombs made clear last year wasn't the case.

This is far from the first time Fox News has made Manning the source of transphobic ridicule, asMedia Matters for Americahas fastidiously documented.

Just last month, during Fox News' The Five, on-air personality Andrea Tantaros referred to Manning as "Bradleen." Days before that, the network ran a segment about Manning filing the official paperwork necessary to legally change her name, referring to Manning as "him" and "he" throughout.

Last August, in the immediate aftermath of Manning's announcement that she is transgender, Fox & Friends introduced a segment about the WikiLeaks source by playing Aerosmith's 1987 single, "Dude Looks Like a Lady." America's Newsroom host Gregg Jarrett defended his intentional misgendering and misnaming of Manning by saying, "I don't do what Bradley Manning wants me to do," and telling his audience, "Don't send me angry emails that I referred to him [sic] as 'Bradley' and not 'Chelsea' and 'him' instead of 'her.'"

Fox News host Jon Scott once referred to Manning's transition as a "ruse," and claimed that transgender individuals weren't living in "reality." As is often the case when Fox News flaunts mainstream style guides which instruct journalists to use the person's preferred name and personal pronuns when reporting on trans individuals, Scott denounced these efforts as "political correctness run amok." That same week, Fox & Friends mocked other outlets' announcements that they would be referring to Manning by her correct name and pronouns, warning viewers to not be "deceived" by news outlets that referred to Manning using these pronouns.

But Fox's coverage of Manning is just one aspect of its problematic pattern of reporting on transgender people. Resident "expert" Dr. Keith Ablow regularly goes ontransphobic rantswhile discussing Chaz Bono and transgender kids, the network has repeatedly used of photos of Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfireto illustrate stories about trans individuals, and Todd Starnes has referred to transgender women as "burly men in dresses." Additional problematic portayals include the repeated labeling of trans-inclusive nondiscrimination bills as "bathroom bills," and Bill O'Reilly's consistent misgendering of convicted murderer Michelle Kosilek.

For years, groups ranging from the National Center for Transgender Equality to GLAAD have asked that Fox News stop misinforming viewers about the lived experiences of transgender individuals, though the network has yet to formally respond or change its ways.

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Fox News Calls Chelsea Manning a 'Gender-Bender'

Kansas judge to consider Chelsea Manning’s petition to legally change name from Bradley

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In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Bradley Manning, now known as Chelsea Elizabeth Manning, poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick.AP

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. An Army private convicted of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks won an initial victory Wednesday to living as a woman when a Kansas judge granted a petition to change her name to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning.

The decision clears the way for official changes to Manning's military records, but does not compel the military to treat the soldier previously known as Bradley Edward Manning as a woman.

That includes not being moved from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, where Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence, to a prison with a woman's unit, or receiving the counseling and hormone treatment she seeks.

Manning wasn't present at the hearing before Leavenworth County District Judge David King, which lasted just about a minute, but issued a statement after the ruling calling it "an exciting day."

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

Army spokesman George Wright said the only impact of the district court ruling was changing Manning's name on military records, but not the soldier's confinement status.

"Likewise, the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks is a male-only facility and prisoners there are referred to by the title 'inmate'," Wright said in a statement to The Associated Press.

Manning, who grew up in Oklahoma, has been diagnosed by at least two Army behavioral health specialists with gender dysphoria, or gender identity disorder. She filed the court petition as the first step toward getting her Army records changed.

The former intelligence analyst was sentenced in August for six Espionage Act violations and 14 other offenses for giving the anti-secrecy website more than 700,000 secret military and U.S. State Department documents, along with battlefield video, while working in Iraq in 2009 and 2010. An Army general upheld the convictions last week, clearing the way for appeals with the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

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Kansas judge to consider Chelsea Manning's petition to legally change name from Bradley

Chelsea Manning gets name change

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From Shawn Nottingham, CNN

updated 6:19 AM EDT, Thu April 24, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Bradley Edward Manning is no more.

A Kansas judge on Wednesday granted the former Army intelligence analyst's request to formally be known as Chelsea Elizabeth Manning.

"I've been working for months for this change, and waiting for years," she said in a statement applauding the order.

"It's worth noting that in both mail and in-person, I've often been asked, 'Why are you changing your name?' The answer couldn't be simpler: because it's a far better, richer, and more honest reflection of who I am and always have been -- a woman named Chelsea."

Manning is currently serving a 35-year sentence at the Army prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

She was convicted in July of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks in what has been described as the largest leak of classified material in U.S. history. Manning was found guilty of 20 of the 22 charges against her, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act.

George Wright, an Army spokesman, said Wednesday the name change would have little consequence.

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Chelsea Manning gets name change

Chelsea Manning Allowed to Formally Change Name

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The Army private convicted of funneling intelligence secrets to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks can legally change her name to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Mannings private struggle to identify as a woman became public after she was sentenced to 35 years in prison last August for leaking more than 700,000 government files. Manning didnt attend the minute-long name-change hearing Wednesday, but said in a statement that it is an exciting day.

Leavenworth County District Judge David King wrote that Manning is entitled to the name change, and ordered that Mannings birth certificate be amended to reflect the new name, according to the petition obtained by NBC News. The soldier's given name was Bradley Edward Manning.

Hopefully todays name change, while so meaningful to me personally, can also raise awareness of the fact that we [transgender] people exist everywhere in America today, and that we ... must jump through hurdles every day just for being who we are, Manning wrote.

Manning, 26, is currently serving time at the Army prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

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While Mannings military records must also reflect the new name, Army officials arent forced to treat Manning as a woman, which means she wouldnt have to be transferred to a womens unit at another prison.

Mannings confinement status wouldnt necessarily change, Army spokesman George Wright told The Associated Press.

Likewise, the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks is a male-only facility and prisoners there are referred to by the title inmate, Wright said in a statement.

Manning wrote that while she struggled with her gender identity, she felt compelled to legally change her name through the courts. But she said she still needs the militarys help to get proper healthcare access.

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Chelsea Manning Allowed to Formally Change Name

Chelsea Manning allowed to legally change name from Bradley Manning

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Chelsea Manning, the Army private who was convicted of leaking government documents to WikiLeaks, has been allowed to legally change her name from Bradley Manning.

Leavenworth County District Judge David King held a hearing today to decide if Manning would be allowed to legally be considered a woman. There was no opposition to her petition and NBC News reports that the hearing lasted just a minute. Manning was not in attendance, but called it an exciting day.

King said that Manning was entitled to the change and has ordered that her birth certificate be changed. Her legal name will change from Bradley Edward Manning to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning.

In a statement posted on ChelseaManning.org and The Huffington Post, Manning wrote that he asked for the change because it's a far better, richer, and more honest reflection of who I am and always have been: a woman named Chelsea.

Manning said that her next battle will be to receive the proper health care treatment while in prison. In August I requested that the military provide me with a treatment plan consistent with the recognized professional standards of care for trans health, Manning wrote. They quickly evaluated me and informed me that they had come up with a proposed treatment plan.

Despite the change, Mannings legal status will not change, the Army said. She was sentenced to 35 years for leaking over 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks and is serving the sentence at Fort Leavenworth.

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Chelsea Manning allowed to legally change name from Bradley Manning