The Army believes that Pvt. Chelsea Manning, who claims to have transitioned to a woman, is still a man.
According to lawyers for Chelsea Manning, the intelligence analyst who leaked a trove of classified information about the Iraq War effort, the head of mental health at Fort Leavenworth has refused to change Manning’s gender to female, The Associated Press reports.
Manning wants an official gender change in the Army’s system, but Ellen Galloway rejected the request. It’s unclear why. Manning has argued that he has “achieved stability in her female gender.” That line of thought apparently did not convince Galloway.
Manning’s legal defense team says that Army policy states that Manning can’t officially change his gender unless he’s released or undergoes transition surgery. Manning is suing the Army to permit him to wear hair longer than two inches, which is the maximum length for males.
Orchestrated by the American Civil Liberties Union, more than a dozen rights groups came out Monday urging President Barack Obama to grant clemency to Manning. Obama has until Jan. 20 to grant clemency before the Trump administration takes over. KT McFarland, Trump’s choice for deputy national security adviser, has advocated for Manning’s execution in the past.
“It’s time to up the charges,” McFarland argued in 2010. “Let’s charge him and try him for treason. If he’s found guilty, he should be executed.”
“If we don’t have the legal authority to prosecute him for espionage and to go after his alleged co-conspirator Pvt. Bradley Manning for treason and conspiracy, we should create it,” McFarland argued in a separate column, referencing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Manning.
Manning is a deeply troubled individual who has attempted suicide twice while incarcerated as part of a 35-year sentence. He was initially arrested in 2010 and then subsequently convicted in 2013. Just a day before being convicted, Manning declared all of a sudden that he was now a woman.
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