US v. Bradley Manning: Being transgender doesn't mean you're unstable
December 5, 2012 at 12:37 am Zinnia
http://freethoughtblogs.com/zinniajones/2012/12/us-v-bradley-manning-being-transgender-doesnt-mean-youre-unstable/I've usually avoided talking about the trial of Private Bradley Manning, given that I've been directly involved with this situation before and I probably will be in the future. But I feel that certain recent developments in the case deserve to be addressed.
[...]
As part of this phase of the trial, the court heard the testimony of Master Sgt. Craig Blenis, who acted as Manning's counselor during his detainment at Quantico. According to reporters covering the hearing, Blenis stated that Manning had sent two letters from the brig using the name "Breanna", and he considered this a reason to place Manning on Prevention of Injury status. Blenis claimed that this was "not normal" and "not stable".
There is a history of some uncertainty over how Manning identifies. Prior to his arrest, he had spoken to a gender counselor online, and said he felt that he was female. He told his superiors in the Army that he had gender identity disorder, which he talked about in his conversations with Adrian Lamo. He also set up Twitter and YouTube accounts under the name "Breanna Manning", and listed this as an alias when he was first confined at Quantico. However, the Bradley Manning Support Network have stated that he prefers to be addressed as Bradley, and when I talked with people who are in close contact with Manning, they all told me he currently identifies as male.
