by NICK DUFFY
Chelsea Manning
Private Manning, who announced her transition to female in 2013, is currently imprisoned in Fort Leavenworth military prison after leaking details of classified government documents concerning alleged war crimes and rights abuses via WikiLeaks.
Manning has sued the US Army for her right to transition behind bars, and has also taken action against her “unjust” 35-year prison sentence – on the basis that her actions helped make public a large number of serious issues related to military practise.
After Manning attempted to take her own life and embarked on a hunger strike over the issue, the military finally agreed to allow her to undergo gender surgery.
However, this week it has emerged that an Army doctor refused to recommend that Manning’s official gender market be changed to female after an assessment.
In a court filing, the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that prison psychologist Dr Ellen Galloway blocked Manning’s request to have her military records changed to reflect her transition.
The decision means she will likely still be treated as a male within the prison system for the remainder of her 35-year sentence unless it is reversed.
This week a number of major LGBT groups joined with the ACLU to urge President Obama to intervene in the case, and grant clemency to Manning as one of his final acts in office.
The groups wrote: “As organizations dedicated to working for the full equality of LGBTQ people, we writein support of the clemency petition of Ms. Chelsea Manning.
“Our organizations may be of differing opinions concerning Ms. Manning’s actions;however, we stand united in our support for her clemency petition.
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