Chelsea Manning, the Wikileaks superstar we used to know as Bradley Manning, will now be referred to as she or a gender-neutral pronoun in all future court proceedings. <\/p>\n
Josh Wolford reported earlier today on the court ruling that means that the U.S. military must stop referring to Manning as he or male. <\/p>\n
This is an important victory for Chelsea, who has been mistreated by the government for years, said Mannings attorney Nancy Hollander in a statement. Though only a small step in a long legal fight, my co-counsel, Vincent Ward, Captain Dave Hammond, and I are thrilled that Chelsea will be respected as the woman she is in all legal filings. <\/p>\n
Manning fought for hormonal treatment in her transition to womanhood. She won that only after filing a lawsuit in September of last year. <\/p>\n
She brings this action to compel defendants to treat her serious medical needs consistent with their obligation under the Constitution, said the lawsuit. Mannings lawyers claimed that lack of hormonal treatment would cause Manning to suffer continued pain, depression and anxiety and that she is at an extremely high risk of self-castration and suicidality. <\/p>\n
It took the DOD until February of this year to finally give in. <\/p>\n
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 Mannings treatment plan, wrote Col. Erica Nelson in a memo. <\/p>\n
Mannings fight which has all but overshadowed the reason she is imprisoned in the first place is yet another chapter in Americas struggle to find its place in the gender identity discussion. Other countries and cultures have made peace with this issue long ago. But America seems to want to fight this out on its own, as though the experience of no other cultures has any relevance to us. <\/p>\n
One clue to Americas difficulty with gender identity issues lies in how we label it. While in the U.S. Army, Bradley Manning was diagnosed with gender identity disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) calls this gender dysphoria. This term is more acceptable to transgendered persons in general because is only addresses the discontent that transgendered persons feel with the anatomical gender of their birth. Calling it a disorder stigmatizes and marginalizes people who honestly never felt comfortable with their own bodies. <\/p>\n
Manning says she has felt female since childhood. This is a statement that many Americans are squeamish about. They say things like: <\/p>\n
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