Free Private Manning

Update 8/27/13: Round up: coverage of Chelsea Manning’s gender transition

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“Empowering, So Brave”: Trans Activists Praise Chelsea Manning, Raise Fears over Prison Conditions. Lauren McNamara, who chatted with Manning online in 2009, spoke to Democracy Now about Manning’s transition and the struggle ahead.

Chelsea Manning Considered Gender Transition Long Before Announcement. Huffington Post’s Matt Sledge discussed Manning’s history of gender dysphoria, including 2010 emails to superiors regarding transgender people in the military generally and her own struggle specifically.

“It’s really unfortunate that she was in the process of coming to terms with it, and doing self-exploration before she was arrested, which meant that she didn’t really have the opportunity to come out on her own terms,” said Rainey Reitman [of the Private Manning Support Network].

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Chelsea Manning explains gender change. Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, spoke with the Associated Press in greater detail about Chelsea’s announcement, including her hormone therapy needs, her new middle name, her reasons for waiting until after the trial to announce her transition, and more on Ft. Leavenworth, where she’ll be confined.
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Chelsea Manning Is Now the Most Famous Transgender Inmate in America. Will She Be Treated Humanely? Slate’s Amanda Hess explained why Manning’s fight for hormone treatment will bring spotlight on the military’s treatment of transgender people:

Manning is set to serve her sentence at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. It is a male-only facility; female military prisoners are all housed at the Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in San Diego. Though Manning and her lawyer have announced hopes to begin her physical transition while locked up, an Army spokesman said that hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery would not be available to her. Some jurisdictions across America now require facilities to provide hormone therapy to trans inmates as a part of their routine medical care, but Leavenworth is not currently compelled to do the same. It appears that Leavenworth’s plan is to treat Chelsea Manning just like a man.

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Reporting on Private Chelsea Manning with consistent respect for gender identity. GLAAD, which also has a media reference guide for commonly used and misused transgender terms, issued guidelines for media reporting on Manning:
Notes for media covering this story:

• It is imperative that media outlets reporting on Chelsea Manning’s announcement are respectful of her gender identity.
• The charges and verdict against her, as well as the U.S. Army’s policy denying transgender-related healthcare to inmates, are not a justification for misgendering, or resorting to stereotypes about transgender women.
• All references to Manning should refer to her as Chelsea and use female pronouns, as is consistent with the AP Style Book guidelines. If necessary, a clarifying sentence may be used which explains that Manning was referred to as “Bradley Manning” during the trial.

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Announcing the Private Manning Support Network! In case you missed it: David Coombs and the Support Network together announce our new name, and related issues:

In response to PVT Manning’s announcement, the Bradley Manning Support Network is changing its name to the Private Manning Support Network, and will work on changing other frequently used parts of its website and materials to incorporate the name Chelsea and the female pronoun. However, completing this process may take some time.

The Support Network has played an important role in organizing public support for PVT Manning since her arrest, and in raising funds to cover 100% of her legal fees. The Support Network will continue its political advocacy efforts to support PVT Manning through this new phase of her life by raising money for the appeals process, advocating for clemency from the Convening Authority and the President and supporting PVT Manning’s right to appropriate medical treatment while imprisoned.