Snowden Applauds Chelsea Manning

WASHINGTON: Pentagon Approves Gender Transition For Chelsea Manning

Via the Associated Press:

In an unprecedented move, the Pentagon is trying to transfer convicted national security leaker Pvt. Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison so she can get treatment for her gender disorder, defense officials said. Manning, formerly named Bradley, was convicted of sending classified documents to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. The soldier has asked for hormone therapy and to be able to live as a woman. The request was the first ever made by a transgender military inmate and set up a dilemma for the Defense Department: How to treat a soldier for a diagnosed disorder without violating long-standing military policy. Transgenders are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military and the Defense Department does not provide such treatment, but Manning can't be discharged from the service while serving his 35-year prison sentence. Some officials have said privately that keeping the soldier in a military prison and unable to have treatment could amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

RELATED: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said on Sunday that the ban on transgender service members "should be reviewed." Ten nations currently permit transgender military service: Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

Chelsea Manning Granted Name Change

Chelsea Manning is now legally Chelsea Manning.

A Kansas judge granted a request Wednesday to formally change the name of the soldier convicted of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks from Bradley Edward Manning to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning. The former intelligence analyst is serving a 35-year prison sentence for passing classified U.S. government information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Manning is serving the sentence at the Army prison on Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. Leavenworth County District Judge David King said he'd allow the name change during a court hearing that lasted about a minute. Manning didn't attend the hearing but issued a statement saying it was "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.

Manning remains in a men's prison and the name change "does not compel the military" to transfer her to a women's prison, according to the Associated Press.

Quote Of The Day - Chelsea Manning

"As a trans woman, I appreciate the Pride movement’s significant role in bringing together diverse communities and elevating the public profile of the fight for queer rights, I have always enjoyed attending Pride celebrations given the opportunity, and I'm deeply honored to receive this title." - Chelsea Manning, writing from federal prison in reaction to being named honorary grand marshal of San Francisco Pride.

More from the Advocate:

Organizers of the San Francisco Pride parade that last year scuttled plans for Chelsea Manning to be grand marshal are trying to repair a rift the controversy created. Manning is named as an "honorary grand marshal" on a list published by organizers this weekend via the official pride website. And SF Pride's new board president, Gary Virginia, said in a statement that Manning's nomination in 2013 was "mishandled." "Even with this controversy, thousands of Manning supporters in the 2013 Pride Parade represented the largest non-corporate, walking contingent in the parade," Virginia noted. "I want to publicly apologize to Chelsea Manning and her supporters on behalf of SF Pride, and we look forward to a proper honor this year.”

Manning's selection as SF Pride 2013 grand marshal was met with great controversy. One LGBT military group denounced the selection and another called for a boycott of SF Pride, who then reversed their decision.

RELATED: Manning is serving a 35 year espionage sentence for leaking classified information. Yesterday her lawyer discussed the appeal now in progress.

"The Espionage Act was meant to punish spies and saboteurs....It was never meant for whistleblowers," attorney Nancy Hollander said Sunday night in a Skype call to a gathering of Manning supporters in Washington. "This is a draconian act…It must be stopped if we’re to have any freedom of speech—if the First Amendment is to exist at all." Manning (formerly known as Bradley Manning) was convicted at a court martial last year of leaking hundreds of thousands of military reports and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks. A military judge sentenced Manning to 35 years in prison—far and away the longest sentence ever given in a leak case. The sentence is not yet final because it awaits action by Manning's commander, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan. He can reduce or eliminate Manning's sentence or overturn the conviction.

Chelsea Manning Requests Pardon

Yesterday the lawyer for Chelsea Manning formally requested a pardon from President Obama. You can read the documents in full at the website Pardon Private Manning.

Editorial Of The Day

From the New York Times editorial board:

Of course, the Manning case presents other issues as well, starting with whether the all-male prison at Fort Leavenworth is the right institution for Private Manning. Transgender inmates are especially vulnerable to sexual assaults, and special care must be taken to ensure their safety with accommodations like private showering. The nature of Private Manning’s offense could make for added safety worries. Prodded by lawsuits and strong Justice Department regulations issued last year to implement the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, civilian jails and prisons around the country are developing ways to address the particular needs of transgender inmates. Private Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, said last week that he hoped military prison officials would voluntarily provide hormone treatment, without a lawsuit. It should not take a court order to get officials — including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel — to do the right thing. They should give Private Manning appropriate medical care and safe but not unduly isolated housing, which should be available for all transgender prisoners.

(Tipped by JMG reader Elise)

More Anti-Trans Douchery By Fox News

Associated Press On Chelsea Manning

The Associated Press has updated its writing guidelines regarding Chelsea Manning.

The Associated Press will henceforth use Pvt. Chelsea E. Manning and female pronouns for the soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning, in accordance with her wishes to live as a woman. Manning announced her wishes last Thursday after being sentenced to 35 years in Fort Leavenworth military prison and a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Army for revealing U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks, the anti-establishment website. The use of the first name Chelsea and feminine pronouns in Manning’s case is in conformity with the transgender guidance in the AP Stylebook. The guidance calls for using the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

PBS News Hour On Chelsea Manning

With an interview with Allyson Robinson.

Trans Navy SEAL Slams Chelsea Manning

"What you wear, what color you are, your religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity has no basis on whether you are a CRIMINAL or NOT.  For this person, whether male or female to use gender identity to act 'BADLY' is a slap in the face to me and everyone who does not fit the 'Binary Gender Norm.' It is not an excuse for anything illegal or unjust. This person took an oath to protect American interest and defend the constitution, and took additional oaths due to security clearances to protect information that leaders deem secret. There are legal avenues to whistle blow or bring attention to issues. THIS person is a liar and a thief and a traitor to many people. If Bradley is truly 'Chelsea' then 'she' is a traitor to ME personally. There is no excuse." - Former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck, writing on her Facebook page. Beck herself came out as transgender in June. (Via Towleroad)

New York Times On Chelsea Manning

The New York Times is being rather public about its quandary on properly gendering Chelsea Manning, noting that while they want to handle the situation respectfully, there's no precedent for talking about a person of such "extraordinary prominence."

Toward that end, she [deputy editor Susan Wessling] said, “We’ll probably use more words than less.” In other words, The Times will explain the change in stories. “We can’t just spring a new name and a new pronoun” on readers with no explanation, she said. She noted the importance in the stylebook entry of the words “unless a former name is newsworthy or pertinent,” which certainly applies here.  An article on The Times’s Web site on Thursday morning on the gender issue continued to use the masculine pronoun and courtesy title. That, said the associate managing editor Philip B. Corbett, will evolve over time. It’s tricky, no doubt. But given Ms. Manning’s preference, it may be best to quickly change to the feminine and to explain that — rather than the other way around.

The Times links its own style guide:

transgender (adj.) is an overall term for people whose current identity differs from their sex at birth, whether or not they have changed their biological characteristics. Cite a person’s transgender status only when it is pertinent and its pertinence is clear to the reader. Unless a former name is newsworthy or pertinent, use the name and pronouns (he, his, she, her, hers) preferred by the transgender person. If no preference is known, use the pronouns consistent with the way the subject lives publicly.

LGBT Orgs Respond To Chelsea Manning

ACLU LGBT Project

In response to Chelsea Manning's disclosure that she is female, has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and will be seeking hormone therapy as a part of her transition during her incarceration, public statements by military officials that the Army does not provide hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria raise serious constitutional concerns. Gender dysphoria is a serious medical condition in which a person's gender identity does not correspond to his or her assigned sex at birth, and hormone therapy is part of the accepted standards of care for this condition.

Without the necessary treatment, gender dysphoria can cause severe psychological distress, including anxiety and suicide. When the government holds individuals in its custody, it must provide them with medically necessary care. The official policy of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and most state agencies is to provide medically necessary care for the treatment of gender dysphoria, and courts have consistently found that denying such care to prisoners based on blanket exclusions violates the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.

Human Rights Campaign

Regardless of how she came to our attention, Pvt. Chelsea Manning’s transition deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. As she requested in her letter, journalists and other officials should use her chosen name of Chelsea and refer to her with female pronouns. Using the name Bradley or male pronouns is nothing short of an insult. Media, having reported on her wishes, must respect them as is the standard followed by the AP Stylebook.

As Pvt. Manning serves her sentence, she deserves the same thing that any incarcerated person does – appropriate and competent medical care and protection from discrimination and violence. The care she receives should be something that she and her doctors – including professionals who understand transgender care – agree is best for her. There is a clear legal consensus that it is the government’s responsibility to provide medically necessary care for transgender people and the military has an obligation to follow those guidelines.

What should not be lost is that there are transgender servicemembers and veterans who serve and have served this nation with honor, distinction and great sacrifice. We must not forget or dishonor those individuals. Pvt. Manning’s experience is not a proxy for any other transgender man or woman who wears the uniform of the United States.

Lambda Legal

Transgender people--like all people--deserve health care and are constitutionally protected in prison. Period. In fact the U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled in Farmer v. Brennan on the right of transgender people to be free from cruel and unusual punishment while in prison which includes withholding medically necessary treatment.

"It would be a shame if the U.S. military prison system held itself to a lower standard than civil prisons. The Constitution requires that Chelsea Manning receive medical care at Ft. Leavenworth--to do otherwise would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment."

In the 1994 seminal Eighth Amendment case involving a transgender plaintiff, Farmer v. Brennan, the court stated that "prison officials have a duty under the Eighth Amendment to provide humane conditions of confinement. They must ensure that inmates receive adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care."

Just last year the U.S. Supreme Court declined review of a 6th Circuit decision in Fields v. Smith striking down as unconstitutional a Wisconsin law that barred medical care for transgender prisoners. Lambda Legal and the ACLU won that case on behalf of transgender prisoners.