An Open Letter to CNN on Chelsea Manning

[Jamie D]

An Open Letter to CNN on Chelsea Manning

by Heather McNamara

To whom it may concern:

My name is Heather McNamara. My fiancée, Lauren McNamara, was a confidante of Chelsea Manning's and testified in her trial. As such, Lauren was recently interviewed on The Lead and on New Day Saturday.

During Lauren's interview on The Lead, interviewer Jake Tapper explained that CNN would be referring to Chelsea Manning by her former name, Bradley, and using male pronouns until such a time as her name is officially changed and her physical transition process has begun. NPR made similar decisions, and it is my understanding that this has led to some backlash from transgender people concerned that this is disrespectful of Chelsea Manning and her gender....

There's nothing disrespectful about being confused by a sudden name change. It may assist viewers' understanding to refer to her as "Chelsea" and add the caveat "formerly known as Bradley Manning" while people continue to learn her new name. This proclamation and clarification will remove the necessity of continuing to refer to Chelsea as "he" and "him."

Full letter at the link

[Ltl89]

I'm not a fan of Zinnia Jones anymore because she used her testimony to gather publicity for herself.  In my opinion, it hurts the defense when you have one of their witnesses doing Q&As on the trial on tumblr or twitter (I forget which one).  Usually it's best to keep things out of the public eye until the trial; otherwise, the prosecution has a huge advantage.  I know she has defended her pre-testimony social media Q&A, but I thought it was tacky and harmful to Manning's defense. 

In any event, I do agree with this letter and find it shameful that CNN won't do the right thing.  I'm not a fan of the network, but one would hope they would have the decency to give Manning the respect she deserves as a human, regardless of her prisoner status.  I didn't know NPR followed suit which is a shame because I love their coverage.