Bradley Manning wants sex change.

http://news.yahoo.com/bradley-manning-says-wants-live-woman-120700028.html

Bradley Manning plans to live as a woman named Chelsea and wants to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible, the soldier said Thursday, a day after being sentenced to 35 years in prison for sending classified material to WikiLeaks. Manning announced the decision in a written statement provided to NBC's "Today" show, asking supporters to refer to him by his new name and the feminine pronoun. The statement was signed "Chelsea E. Manning."
"As I transition into this next phase of my life, 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 statement read.
Manning's defense attorney David Coombs told "Today" in an interview that he is hoping officials at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., will accommodate Manning's request for hormone therapy.
"If Fort Leavenworth does not, then I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure they are forced to do so," Coombs said.
Coombs did not respond to phone and email messages from The Associated Press on Thursday.

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Personally I feel that after being tried in court and being sentenced to prison you shouldn't be able to use the taxpayer's money for something like this. I'm fine with any medical procedure taking place to keep him alive, but this seems ridiculous (though I know sex change operations happen fairly frequently in prison, the high profile of this case draws extra attention to it.)

What do you all think?

He has gender dysphoria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity_disorder) and he wants to be as happy as possible. That's the point of this.

Silais said:

What's the point of this, exactly? I'm just curious, no offense intended.

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He's a guy who's been slapped with a bunch of a B.S. charges so the news wants to cover every facet of his life.

Honestly, if he wants a sex change, that's his choice, but I doubt it'll happen anytime soon. Unless they allow those sorts of things in prison, that is.

Please honor pronouns, please. Also, I agree that the charges are BS. She's just being made an example, that's it. She found evidence that the military was actively killing and torturing civilians and she didn't think they should get away with it. I think she's a hero.

Hmm.. to me it's a bit.. scary why this is considered news. It's someone's personal life choice and we have no business in it, especially when it's not breaking any laws. :/ I hate when people's personal choices become like a showcase for the rest of the population.

I guess this could factor into the broader question about transgender prisons inmates. So I will address transgender inmates generally, as opposed to this particular individual.

The therapies and surgeries are expensive, the family/inmate should be responsible for paying for the treatment rather than have that burden fall on taxpayers. He made the decision to violate many Federal laws and that limits his right to certain resources as opposed to someone who is a law abiding citizen.

Another issue beyond the costs of treatments is which facility to place the inmate. Transgender women who prior to prison sentencing have undergone therapies may end up in a women's facility since the male inmate population would...be a little too friendly, causing additional conflict. There is a question of which prison would be best fit for the individual and the inmate population. It's not a clear-cut answer for each case.

Fenneking said:

I guess this could factor into the broader question about transgender prisons inmates. So I will address transgender inmates generally, as opposed to this particular individual.

The therapies and surgeries are expensive, the family/inmate should be responsible for paying for the treatment rather than have that burden fall on taxpayers. He made the decision to violate many Federal laws and that limits his right to certain resources as opposed to someone who is a law abiding citizen.

Another issue beyond the costs of treatments is which facility to place the inmate. Transgender women who prior to prison sentencing have undergone therapies may end up in a women's facility since the male inmate population would...be a little too friendly, causing additional conflict. There is a question of which prison would be best fit for the individual and the inmate population. It's not a clear-cut answer for each case.

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I would put more emphasis on may. Most trans women inmates end up in men's prisons. California was the first to make it into law that trans prisoners go to the prison they identify with. Most states go by birth sex.

Regardless of whether she is considered a traitor or not, she was discharged dishonorably from the military, and people who are let go this way cannot get any benefits whatsoever. Let her do what she wants.. I just hope she is the one who pays for the treatments. Don't put the tab on taxpayers. Also, I was reading earlier that the prison they are in doesn't allow for these types of treatments, so I'm not sure if she will be granted them or not.

Well, she should get them. I agree that it shouldn't be on tax payer money, but if she has a way it should be her right to do it.

I have no idea why he (still legally a he) decided to say this now, but... While I'm wholly supportive of his case and, if he undergoes treatment, of his acceptance into the society as a woman, I feel he revealed this to the media as a desperate attempt to lower his penalty or something like that.

At least the treatment should bring some peace to someone who shouldn't even have been charged with such a harsh penalty in the first place.

Maybe I'm harsh but I believe that if you break the law and have a large enough sentence to have to go to jail, you sign away your rights for whatever time period your sentence is. Of course it depends on the crime but it mortifies me that kids don't get free food in school (I had a friend in highschool who told me years later she was skipping meals and sleeping at her job) and inmates can sit there all day and do nothing and get their food handed to them like .. well.. nothing. I think that he and other inmates should do something in order to get that. Don't care if other people deem it "labour".. to me it's just doing what everyone else does- making a living and working to eat. Let's put the sex aside and focus on physicalities for a sec, since we can all relate to that a bit more: I could say I would love to be able to get breast implants from the government and blame it on psychological issues to try and get it free- just like I am sure other people who are unhappy with how they are physically would love to change things about themselves without the worry of a pricetag.. but it's not realistic to use taxpayers' money. But heck, people attempt it and are even successful and I think it's wrong. (hear about the girl who got those E sized jugs and used the same story a while back?) I don't think it's fair. I think people need to pay for it themselves.
Taxpayers' money should go towards a community's benefit. Not one individuals' benefits.

However, I see no problem with hormonal drugs being allowed in prisons if the person locked up had paid for it themselves.


What I think the media is trying to do is paint him as a crazy person.. to devaluate the things he said prior. What the media doesnt understand is that there isn't anything crazy about changing who you identify with. Maybe religious extremists might think so.. but they are in the minority anyways (and who are we kidding.. they're extremists haha) so.. who cares?

We should also look beyond what Manning wants to do. Patients don't always know what is best for them always. With that said, undergoing the hormonal replacement therapy has several psychological/physiological side-effects, depression and changes in mood are two big ones. With the stress of the prison environment, which should not be underestimated, this may not be the right conditions to undergo the therapy. Though, it's a concern, we shouldn't automatically assume that this therapy would be detrimental to the psychological health. Though certainly a medical psychologist should be the judge of that especially given each patient's individual needs including their psychological health to begin with. Manning has a document history of violent outbreaks and irrational behavior of which should be assessed by an objective party. Additionally, how do all of these factors, prison, side effects, and patient's psychological health all come together? Certainly, as individuals, we cannot make such an assessment given our lack of expertise as well as our lack of objectivity for our treatment options.

Well one thing's for sure, if he/she goes into a men's prison now he won't be alive loong enough to start the hormonal therapy.

I don't think inmates are entitled to psychological therapy unless they have insurance for it, or are willing to pay for it out of pocket. Again it's surprising to me that schools often don't offer medically-trained councellors but prisons do? Why???? If she wants to undergo the treatment knowing those risks then I see no reason why she shouldn't.

Also I realize I was using he when I probably should be using she in the previous post I made.. and fuu.. PC is lagging too much for me to edit properly.. so sorry.

We should also look beyond what Manning wants to do as well. Patients don't always know what is best for them always if often. With that said, undergoing the hormonal replacement therapy has several psychological/physiological side-effects, depression and changes in mood are two big ones. With the stress of the prison environment, which should not be underestimated, this may not be the right conditions to undergo the therapy. Though, it's a concern, we shouldn't automatically assume that this therapy would be detrimental to the psychological health. Though certainly a medical psychologist should be the judge of that especially given each patient's individual needs including their psychological health to begin with. Manning has a document history of violent outbreaks and irrational behavior of which should be assessed by an objective party. Additionally, how do all of these factors, prison, side effects, and patient's psychological health all come together? Certainly, as individuals, we cannot make such an assessment given our lack of expertise as well as our lack of objectivity for our own treatment options.

Eh, I don't care what the traitorous piece of crap does with himself. I'm guessing Bradley Manning doesn't have all his lights on upstairs anyways. I don't know why people sympathize with him/her.

I don't agree that prisoners don't have rights. They do. They are still human beings, after all. There's a reason why we don't use prisoners for slave labor, don't beat them up or kill them randomly, or why we're not allowed to torture them. They have rights. I think it's easy from a privileged outlook to look down on them, but that's ignoring the reality. The reality is that there's very little keeping you from being thrown in jail. Anyone can find themselves in prison for one reason or another. Not everyone in jail is a monster.

Cerberus87 said:

I have no idea why he (still legally a he)...

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Snowdrop said:

I don't know why people sympathize with him/her/it.

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Also, can we please stop dehumanizing transgender people in this thread? We do deserve respect and misgendering a trans person is one of the most insulting things you can do. I'm asking nicely to stop.

I get why he's in the news and all, but why is this in the news? Who gives a ****?

It'd be interesting to take a look at how this affected the chain of events so far, and how transitioning given his circumstances would play out. We could look at what resources he has available to transition, and this could bring up the question of what this means for the rest of us - as Fenneking has introduced. He's an interesting personality in the public eye and I think it's a good learning experience to pick away at what it all means.