PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, who was previously known as Bradley Manning, decided to announce that she wanted to live as a woman the day after sentencing because a military prison said publicly it would not provide hormone treatment, her attorney said Monday.
Attorney David Coombs told The Associated Press that Manning had known for a long time she would make such a statement, but "she wanted, essentially, for the media surrounding the trial to dissipate."
Manning did not want people to think the statement was insincere.
"People might think it was an effort to get further attention," said Coombs, who lives in Providence, R.I.
Coombs said he and Manning knew the Army might not provide hormone treatment, but they were hoping the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., would allow it since Manning had been diagnosed with gender-identity disorder by an Army psychiatrist who testified at his trial.
It wasn't until they read a Courthouse News Service story that Manning decided to make the announcement. The story quoted prison spokeswoman Kimberly Lewis saying the prison would not provide hormone therapy. It was published Aug. 20, the day before Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking mountains of classified material to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
"It was Chelsea's intent to do this all along," Coombs said. "It was only after Fort Leavenworth had said that they would not provide any sort of medical treatment that we decided not to wait."
Coombs said he hoped the military prison "will simply do the right thing" so Manning will not have to sue in military or civilian court.
Chelsea Manning's Gender Change?
((personally, I take exception to this 'gender change' reference. in my experience, you can effectively change your sex using modern medical techniques, but not your gender. I believe you are born with a gender and you live with that forever. You can choose to live in one gender or another, or in parts of both and change back and forth, but you don't change the gender itself--alexis))
Attorney David Coombs told The Associated Press that Manning had known for a long time she would make such a statement, but "she wanted, essentially, for the media surrounding the trial to dissipate."
Manning did not want people to think the statement was insincere.
"People might think it was an effort to get further attention," said Coombs, who lives in Providence, R.I.
Coombs said he and Manning knew the Army might not provide hormone treatment, but they were hoping the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., would allow it since Manning had been diagnosed with gender-identity disorder by an Army psychiatrist who testified at his trial.
It wasn't until they read a Courthouse News Service story that Manning decided to make the announcement. The story quoted prison spokeswoman Kimberly Lewis saying the prison would not provide hormone therapy. It was published Aug. 20, the day before Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking mountains of classified material to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
"It was Chelsea's intent to do this all along," Coombs said. "It was only after Fort Leavenworth had said that they would not provide any sort of medical treatment that we decided not to wait."
Coombs said he hoped the military prison "will simply do the right thing" so Manning will not have to sue in military or civilian court.
((personally, I take exception to this 'gender change' reference. in my experience, you can effectively change your sex using modern medical techniques, but not your gender. I believe you are born with a gender and you live with that forever. You can choose to live in one gender or another, or in parts of both and change back and forth, but you don't change the gender itself--alexis))
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