FT. MEADE, Md. (CN) - Though evidence has shown that Bradley Manning has considered living as a woman, the prison likely to hold the WikiLeaks source for decades confirmed that it does not provide hormone therapy or sex-reassignment surgery to inmates.
Manning's gender identity has been a prominent feature of his court-martial for the biggest intelligence leak in United States history. The young soldier shared hundreds of thousands of documents with WikiLeaks, including battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, diplomatic cables from around the world, profiles of Guantanamo detainees and footage of airstrikes that killed civilians.
Before his detection, he confided in Internet chats with ex-hacker Adrian Lamo, "i wouldn't mind going to prison for the rest of my life, or being executed so much, if it wasn't for the possibility of having pictures of me... plastered all over the world press... as [a] boy."
His desire to be known as a woman apparently shifted as trial approached.
On July 24, 2012, his supporters at the Bradley Manning Support Network released the following statement: "Everything we know from Bradley Manning's friends, family, and legal defense team, is that he wishes to be referred to as Brad or Bradley until he's able to get to the next stage of his life."
For Manning, whom prosecutors want to put behind bars for 60 years, that next stage may be a long way away. His lead attorney David Coombs has indicated that Manning will likely serve his sentence in Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. The military judge presiding over his case, Col. Denise Lind, will announce on Wednesday how long Manning will remain there.
Ft. Leavenworth spokeswoman Kimberly Lewis told Courthouse News that treatment for transgender inmates does not extend beyond psychiatric care.
"All inmates are considered soldiers and are treated as such with access to mental health professionals, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, social workers and behavioral science noncommissioned officers with experience in addressing the needs of military personnel in pre- and post-trial confinement," Lewis said in an email. "The Army does not provide hormone therapy or sex-reassignment surgery for gender identity disorder."
A growing number of federal judges have ruled that rejecting such treatment for transgender prisoners constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Indeed, the jurisdiction of the Maryland courtroom where the WikiLeaks source has been tried is subject to a 4th Circuit decision from Jan. 28 this year guaranteeing the possibility of sex-reassignment surgery for all federal inmates in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and North and South Carolina.
The Chicago-based 7th Circuit ruled similarly in 2011, striking down a Wisconsin law banning such medical care. A Boston federal judge granted surgery to a convicted wife-killer last year, and the 1st Circuit is currently mulling that decision on appeal.
Manning, however, is being held in a military prison in Ft. Leavenworth, out of reach for all of these jurisdictions.
Lauren McNamara, a transgender woman who testified on Manning's behalf, seemed surprised when told about the military prison's policies, which she called an "extraordinary problem."
"I don't think people understand what hormone-replacement therapy does," she said. "This is something that's the best anti-depressant, anti-anxiety drug I have ever been on."
Manning has been diagnosed with and received medication for both conditions.
