HRC Blog

Pvt. Chelsea E. Manning announced today that she is female and wishes to begin hormone treatment therapy. 

Regardless of how she came to our attention, Pvt. Chelsea Manning’s transition deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.  As she requested in her letter, journalists and other officials should use her chosen name of Chelsea and refer to her with female pronouns.  Using the name Bradley or male pronouns is nothing short of an insult.  Media, having reported on her wishes, must respect them as is the standard followed by the AP Stylebook.

As Pvt. Manning serves her sentence, she deserves the same thing that any incarcerated person does – appropriate and competent medical care and protection from discrimination and violence.  The care she receives should be something that she and her doctors – including professionals who understand transgender care – agree is best for her.  There is a clear legal consensus that it is the government’s responsibility to provide medically necessary care for transgender people and the military has an obligation to follow those guidelines.

What should not be lost is that there are transgender servicemembers and veterans who serve and have served this nation with honor, distinction and great sacrifice.  We must not forget or dishonor those individuals. Pvt. Manning’s experience is not a proxy for any other transgender man or woman who wears the uniform of the United States.