Transgender WikiLeaks inmate yet to receive hormone treatment

Published: 11:47AM Wednesday August 13, 2014 Source: AP

Convicted national security leaker Chelsea Manning isn't receiving medical treatment for her gender identity condition as previously approved by Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, the American Civil Liberties Union and Manning's attorney said.

The ACLU and Manning's civilian attorney, David E. Coombs, notified the US Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth and several defence department officials, including Hagel, that a lawsuit will be filed if military officials do not confirm by September 4 that the treatment will be provided for Manning.

Manning is serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.

Manning, who changed her name from Bradley after her conviction, has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the sense of being a woman in a man's body.

Manning sought evaluation and treatment after she was sent to the Fort Leavenworth prison in September 2013.

She is asking for hormone therapy and to be able to live as a woman. Military doctors confirmed the gender dysphoria diagnosis and recommended a treatment plan, but she has yet to receive any treatment, according to the ACLU.

"The continued failure to provide Ms Manning with this treatment is inconsistent with well-established medical protocols and basic constitutional principles," Chase Strangio, attorney for the ACLU's Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, said in a statement.

Strangio said refusing to treat Manning is "cruel and unusual punishment" and contended the Army is withholding treatment for political reasons.

The lack of treatment puts Manning at risk for serious long-term physical and psychological harm, her advocates said.

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Transgender WikiLeaks inmate yet to receive hormone treatment