Pvt. Chelsea Manning is set to be released from prison on Wednesday. According to the Army, she will serve on active duty as an unpaid soldier while her court martial conviction is under appeal. No official word has been announced regarding when and where Manning will be stationed.
The nightmare will end, soon. Never stop dreaming =) #mondaymotivation
— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) April 24, 2017
As an active-duty soldier, Manning will still have access to healthcare benefits, allowing her to receive sex reassignment surgery, which was approved by the U.S. Army last September. However, if Manning’s appeal is denied, then she could face a dishonorable discharge that would remove her access to healthcare benefits: including access to a gender therapist, hormone replacement therapy, and consultation for surgeries.
Manning began gender transitioning at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, while serving a 35-year sentence. President Obama later commuted her sentence to end May 17. Her time in prison has been marked by alleged mistreatment, with Manning held in a prison for men and reportedly undergoing abuse during her sentence.
“Like far too many people in prison, particularly transgender women, Chelsea Manning has had to survive unthinkable violence throughout the seven years of her incarceration,” ACLU attorney Chase Strangio said, according to USA Today.
Previously, President Donald Trump slammed President Obama’s pardon, calling Manning an “ungrateful TRAITOR” and claimed that she “should never have been released from prison.”
Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017
