Chelsea Manning files suit over military’s decision not to provide hormone treatment

Chelsea Manning, the Army private serving 35 years for leaking military and diplomatic secrets to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the military has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to provide treatment for her gender dysphoria.

The term describes a condition in which a persons innate sense of their gender differs from the one he or she was assigned at birth. Manning, who enlisted in the Army as a man, announced last year that she was a transgender woman and would seek treatment for her condition while serving her prison term.

In the suit,Mannings attorneys argue that, despite her repeated requests, the military has failed to provide hormone therapy or permit her to live outwardly as a woman, which amounts to a violation of the Constitutions prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Every day that goes by without appropriate treatment, Plaintiff experiences escalating anxiety, distress, and depression. She feels as though her body is being poisoned by testosterone, wrote the attorneys, including lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union. Plaintiff fears that without appropriate treatment, her anguish will only escalate and she will not be able to survive the 35 years of her sentence, let alone the next few years.

Multiple military doctors have diagnosed Manning with gender dysphoria over the years, but the Army has struggled with how to deal with her and respond to her repeated requests for treatment and accommodations while serving her sentence at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

While federal prisons have systems in place to deal with transgender inmates, military prisons do not, because transgender people are technically barred from serving. The Army has changed its records to reflect Mannings name change, from Bradley to Chelsea, but it still considers Manning a male and has housed her with male inmates.

The Army has said in the pastthat Manning was approved to receive some treatment, and according to the suit, Manning was recently given access to womens undergarments. But Manning has asked to be allowed grow out her hair and use womens cosmetics and grooming products. She has also asked for hormone therapy, including estrogens and anti-androgens. In the suit, she has not asked for surgery.

According to the suit, Manning has contemplated suicide and self-mutilation. An outside expert retained by Manning concluded that she is experiencing significant distress and is at high risk for serious medical consequences, including self-castration and suicide, if such medically necessary treatment is not promptly provided.

The Armydeclined to comment, citing a longstanding policy against commenting on pending litigation.

Sandhya Somashekhar is a health reporter for the Washington Post.

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Chelsea Manning files suit over military’s decision not to provide hormone treatment