Bradley Manning's Gender Identity Struggle

This morning Bradley Manning's attorney read a statement on the Today show saying that his client, recently sentenced to 35 years for leaking material to Wikileaks, wants to start living his life as a woman.

As I heard the news I was floored and, I have to admit, a tad skeptical.  I am honored to work with the trans community (not to mention all sorts of others, hetero and gay as well) and am defensive of those who would ridicule these brave folk, so that is my knee jerk impulse--to question this announcement. I don't know Mr. Manning and can't vouch for his integrity but I can only hope this is not a plea for publicity. The struggles of the trans community are so varied, deep and enduring that they cannot afford an opportunist seeking attention.

Chelsea Manning

That said, does this young man need any more publicity? He is known around the world for his actions, with some wanting to award him the Nobel Peace Prize and others demanding his execution.

I then did some reading and found Manning has struggled with the issue of his gender for some time and that it was discussed in his trial. I was not aware of this because of the lack of coverage of his trial in the mainstream. But once I found out he has previously been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder (GID)--literally having the brain of one sex in the body of another--I was relieved and felt tremendous sympathy for her. 

From here on I am going to refer to Mr. Manning as Ms. Manning, as I would with anyone else who told me they wanted to transition. Who am I to tell her, or anyone, who they really are?

As I tell my clients--from the heterosexual teenager with family issues to the housewife struggling with anxious thoughts to the woman in her eighties who wants a divorce after sixty years of marriage--you are an expert on yourself. I will never know who you are better than yourself.

The world is so hard for the most mainstream of people and it is even harder every step one takes away from the norm. So I wish Chelsea Manning well and hope she is afforded the medical and legal accommodations that allow her to be who she really is.