Excerpt
RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): Just days after Bradley Manning was handed 35 years in prison over the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history, the Army private is bringing another issue to the fore. The soldier, who long struggled with gender identity, announced on Thursday the preference to live as a woman named Chelsea.
In a statement read on NBC's Today Show, Manning said: "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."
The announcement has raised legal questions over whether the Army provides that therapy. The soldier will serve time at Leavenworth maximum security prison in Kansas. The prison has 515 beds and no female prisoners. Manning's attorney says he plans to fight for his client once again.
DAVID COOMBS, attorney for Bradley Manning: A Fort Leavenworth spokesperson said, we don't have certain treatment; that's not what we give.
I'm going to change that.
RAY SUAREZ: Manning's request has put a spotlight on an issue that's often overlooked and how the military handles it.
Estimates vary, but one analysis from the Williams Institute at UCLA. Suggested as many as 700,000 Americans may be transgender, though many fewer may have taken hormones or surgery. Currently, most insurance plans will not cover treatments or surgeries involved with sex changes. There was an earlier gender reassignment involving a veteran. It first came to public attention after World War II.
Christine Jorgensen, an American soldier who served as a man, returned from military service and became Christine. In Manning's case, the focus now lies on how the Army will proceed with the soldier's request and what that means for the private's future in prison.
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