Transgender soldier and inmate at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks Chelsea Manning announced late Tuesday night that she had ended a five-day hunger strike after receiving assurances from the U.S. Army that she will be able to receive the recommended treatment for gender dysphoria. I applaud them for that. Stipe also references Manning’s July suicide attempt, for which she may face punishments including solitary confinement, additional time in prison, or loss of parole.
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The medical treatment will begin with the surgery that was recommended by her psychologist in April, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
Manning is now held at the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and began a hunger strike last week to protest her treatment at the barracks. She requested hormone therapy “as soon as possible”. Those denials led Manning to launch the hunger strike, even though she noted there was a possibility she could become incapacitated or die as a result. On Friday, Manning announced that she would not consume any food or drink voluntarily, except for water and now prescribed medications, or cut or shorten her hair, in response to what she described as “bullying” by the prison and USA government officials.
Manning’s lawyer revealed that the military concluded that the Department of Defense’s instruction for “In-Service Transition” applies to her.
The strike lasted five days, with Manning arguing she was “being bullied” by the federal government as they denied her treatment to physically transition into a woman.
Back in 2014, a list of musicians and celebrities including PJ Harvey, M.I.A., Thurston Moore, and Moby signed a statement expressing their support for government whistleblowers including Manning and Edward Snowden. Despite major medical associations recognizing reassignment surgery as necessary medical care for gender dysphoria, no transgender prisoner has ever received gender reassignment surgery in a US prison, according to the ACLU.
One of Manning’s lawyers said she expects to meet with doctors in the next week or two to begin preparing for surgery, according to CNN.
She said she hopes her case sets a precedent for other transgender people to be given treatment they need.
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“Given the recognition of Chelsea’s health care needs”, Strangio said, reports NPR, “we hope that she is immediately permitted to grow her hair consistent with the standard for female military prisoners and that all charges related to her suicide attempt and the investigation that followed are dropped”.
