Bradley Manning. Photograph courtesy of Free Bradley Manning
Private Manning was yesterday sentenced to 35 years in jail for leaking a trove of documents to Wikileaks, but also made a statement saying:
“I am Chelsea Manning…I am a female.”
It was widely speculated that Manning may have been transgendered, but she did not want to make a statement on the issue until her trial was over, so as not to influence the verdict or her sentence.
Manning said in a statement that she had felt female since childhood, and now wanted to begin hormone therapy. She also said that from now on she wished to be referred to as Chelsea and with the female pronoun.
The soldier has vowed to appeal against the verdict and sentence, but unless these pleas are accepted she will serve a minimum of seven years at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas before being eligible for parole. She has also said that she may take legal action to force the prison to provide her hormone therapy whilst detained if the authorities at first refuse.
Manning has not indicated whether she wants to go through gender reassignment surgery.