Poll Should WikiLeaks leaker Chelsea Manning receive gender reassignment treatment while at Fort Leavenworth? (32 votes)

Chelsea Manning is the U.S. Army private famous for giving hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks while deployed to Iraq and later coming out as transgender after being sentenced to 35 years of confinement. Manning requested treatment for gender dysphoria while confined and was granted a legal name change from Bradley to Chelsea in a Kansas court April of this year.
The U.S. Army stated that they normally do not offer the treatment because transgender men and women are not eligible to serve in the military and anybody who comes out as transgender while already serving is discharged so they can seek civilian treatment on their own. Manning cannot be discharged until his sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth is complete, which won't be until the 2040s assuming he isn't granted early parole.
The Army applied to transfer Manning to a civilian federal prison better equipped to give the treatment at the protest of Manning's lawyer, stating that Manning would be in more danger among civilian prisoners that don't have military backgrounds like at the USDB. The Federal Bureau of Prisons rejected the request for the transfer. As a result, the Army stated that they will start basic treatment on Manning but that they are unequipped to give advance treatment offered to transgender prisoners in civilian prisons.
Should the Army start treatment to allow Manning to transition to a woman? Or should Manning be treated as a male until he is discharged? If the Army does allow Manning to transition should they hand him a bill for the treatment or should tax dollars pay for it?
Log in to comment