CHELSEA MANNING HAS taken the first legal steps to change her name legally from Bradley Edward Manning to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning according to the support network set up in her name.
Private Manning, who was sentenced to 35-years in prison for leaking classified military information to WikiLeaks, has petitioned a Kansas court for a name change.
The Private Manning Support Network, which is changing its name to the Chelsea Manning Support Network (CMSN), has also said that Manning wishes to receive hormone treatment.
“This announcement represents the result of a long process of personal introspection and discovery, which started before her arrest in May of 2010,” the group in a statement.
Manning has been diagnosed by at least two US Army behavioural health specialists with gender dysphoria, or gender identity disorder. Manning is currently serving her sentence in a miltary prison in Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
Officials at Fort Leavenworth have said Manning would have to get a legal name change to be known as there as Chelsea.
Civilian federal prisons are required to provide treatment, if deemed medically necessary, but the military has said it does not provide treatment for gender dysphoria because Pentagon policy dictates that transgender soldiers are not allowed to serve.
CMSN says that Manning’s lawyer plans to go to court to secure her right to receive treatment and that they have been pledged support from the American Civil Liberties Union.
A hearing on Manning’s formal name change request is scheduled for 23 April in Leavenworth County District Court.
- Additional reporting from Associated Press
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