Bradley Manning has confessed that he wants to be a woman. The former U.S. soldier has been sentenced to 35 years in military prison. He had been found guilty of breaching his fiduciary duty of confidentiality. He gave 700,000 files to Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who took videos and diplomatic cables, the secrets that were confidential U.S military files, and made everything public information. According to the Chicago Tribune, Manning’s lawyers argues that the former army intelligence analyst suffered a ‘sexual identity crisis’ when he leaked the files to Julian Assange.
Manning comments, “As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female. Given the way that I feel and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I also request that starting today you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun.
A Navy Reserve Psychiatrist, Captain David Moulton testified during Manning’s trial that he “suffered from gender dysphoria, or wanting to be the opposite sex, as well as narcissism and obsessive-compulsive disorder.” Defense lawyers argued that Manning had been isolated and under a lot of stress. They mentioned that his superiors had ignored the warning signs and they cited that he had punched another soldier as well as sent a picture of himself dressed as a woman to a superior.”