On Wednesday, A Kansas court judge has given approval to a name change for Private First Class Bradley Manning, the Army private who had leaked a throve of classified documents to the Wikileaks site.
Manning, who had since been convicted on 20 counts including six violations of the Espionage Act, is currently serving his 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth. On August 22 last year, he announced via a press release that he will now be regarded as female and that he was also changing his name.
Part of the press release read, "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 hope that you will support me in this transition."
USA Today said the Army has not opposed to the court ruling on the name change. According to Army spokesman George Wright, he said that the ruling was considered perfunctory, which means that the military will be changing Manning's name on its records. Wright clarified however that Manning will remain incarcerated in a male-only facility.
Manning earlier has filed a grievance with the fort's US Disciplinary Barracks commander over the lack of response to her request that she receive comprehensive treatment for her her gender identity disorder. The request also includes Manning to receive specialized gender counseling treatment and hormone replacement therapy, USA Today said.
Along with the court ruling on her name change, Manning said in a statement that the military has already claimed that it has developed a treatment plan as she has requested. On the other hand, she said in her statement that she has yet to see the draft and has no clue on whether the treatment plan will be approved or disapproved or whether it followed the guidelines of qualified health professionals.
