The Army private who pled guilty to leaking confidential material gave this statement:
“As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me,” Manning said in a statement read during an exclusive TODAY show interview with lawyer David Coombs. “I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way I have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible.”
While Fort Leavenworth, the prison where Manning will serve her sentence, does not offer hormone therapy, Coombs told host Savannah Guthrie he would fight to ensure his client received the medical treatment she needed. He also said he and Manning had not discussed sex reassignment surgery, and that getting her access to the needed hormones is his priority at this time.
Asked why Chelsea Manning had not made a statement about her gender before the trial was over, Coombs said, “She didn’t want this to be something that overshadowed the case.”
Contextually, there is a lot to think about here.
There has been speculation in the past, backed up by statements from Manning and her attorney, that the Army's treatment of LGBT service members was a factor in the case. Further, I wonder now how Manning's gender identity influenced the conditions under which she was incarcerated. Finally, there is not only the question of her right as a prison to have access to hormone treatments as requested -- but the question of whether she can be humanely incarcerated as a trans person at the facility in questions.
In this country, we don't treat our prison population well. We treat incarcerated trans people even worse. I hope that we do better for Pfc. Manning.