Chelsea (née Bradley) Manning

News travels at varying rates in different circles, so you may or may not have heard that the soldier responsible for the famous Wikileaks postings about Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010 has announced a desire to transition physically and socially and live as a woman.  This announcement was made shortly after a sentence of 35 years in Fort Leavenworth was handed down.

I have seen some comments circulating around about this.  One theory is that a guy might do this to get into the women’s prison for the rest of his sentence.  Another is that a guy might do this to get out of the federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison he’s already in.

office space prisonAnother theory, one that appeals at least a little to the anarcho-libertarian in me, is that somebody might do this just so they could continue screwing around with the system, wasting court time and government money.

To anybody who is still expressing these ideas, I want to present a couple more.  First, think about the treatment a trans-woman is likely to get from her fellow inmates in an all-male prison.  With or without physical reassignment, her choice to transition socially is going to mark her out as a special target for violence and rape. Would you voluntarily sign up for that, just to “stick it to The Man”?

Second, if you really think that a cisgendered, heterosexual, military male would willingly undergo either a) the sexual abuse from male inmates, or b) the hormone treatment Chelsea has requested, with its accompanying permanent physical changes, just for the chance of moving to a women’s prison and getting laid…you really haven’t thought this through.

Chelsea Manning has been up shit creek ever since her involvement in the WikiLeaks affair came out.  Her ordeal is only going to get worse, and I wish her the strength she will need to survive and come out the other side.

Published by solinox

I am a Wiccan priestess, a libertarian mother of triplets plus three, a wife and homeschooling mom to blind and autistic children, a fiber artist, and a Jane of All Trades, always learning and seeking to help.

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

  1. Further, when asked if she wanted to go to a women’s prison, she declined. Reasons cited by her lawyer include that military facilities are generally safer than civilian facilities, so ostensibly, she has less fear of harm related to her transition.

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: