From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/27/chelsea-manning-gender-transition_n_3818080.html?ref=topbar
NEW YORK — Chelsea Manning’s announcement about her gender transition last Thursday seemed to catch many casual observers by surprise. The former Army intelligence analyst and WikiLeaks source arrested in May 2010 wanted to be known as a woman, not as Bradley.
“I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible,” the 25-year-old Manning wrote. The day before the announcement, a military court gave Manning a 35-year sentence for leaking 700,000 files to WikiLeaks.
To many LGBT advocates, Manning’s declaration came as a relief. They had struggled for years over how to handle the numerous signs suggesting Manning’s desire to transition. Now, The Huffington Post has obtained another data point in Manning’s long, mostly private transition to transgender woman: an email Manning sent to a leading “don’t ask, don’t tell” researcher asking for advice on military service for transgender people.
That email, with the subject line “Questions,” arrived in researcher Nathaniel Frank’s inbox on April 28, 2010.
“I’m doing a little research, and I have a few questions regarding Transgender people and the U.S. Military,” Manning wrote. “What laws / policies bar servicemembers from seeking name changes, birth certificate changes, and hormone replacement therapy, etc? … What changes would be required for these policies to feasibly allow a soldier to transition in the military?”
That email came four days after Manning sent the non-commissioned officer in charge of discipline in her Army intelligence unit an anguished email titled “My problem” with an image of herself in a woman’s wig and makeup attached.
The email also came just days before a dramatic late-night counseling session on May 8, 2010, in which Manning made a “revelation” about her gender identity to her Army psychologist, Capt. Michael Worsley. Manning was in fact in the process of being administratively separated from the Army because of Worsley’s diagnosis of gender identity disorder (a condition now known as gender dysphoria), which Worsley felt could only be effectively treated outside of the Army.
Transgender people are not allowed to publicly serve in the military, and the Army does not provide soldiers with hormone therapy. Manning’s lawyer introduced the “My problem” email, as well as Worsley’s testimony, during the sentencing phase of the trial to show the judge overseeing the case that Manning was under extreme stress when she made her leaks. The testimony suggested that Manning’s judgment about the consequences of her actions had been affected by the stress.
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