Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Marine soldier undergoing gender reassignment from male to female, must be referred to as “she” or the gender-neutral Private First Class Manning, according to a new court order.
Chelsea Manning, who changed her masculine name from Bradley to Chelses in 2014, is currently serving a 35-year sentence in a Kansas prison for releasing classified documents to WikiLeaks.
In January, the government banned Chelsea Manning from using female pronouns in filings.
“Unless directed otherwise by this honourable court, the government intends to refer to [Manning] using masculine pronouns,” the government said last month.
However, a new court order has ruled that Manning cannot be referred to as a “he.”
“This is an important distinction for Chelsea, both personally and legally,” attorney Nancy Hollander told People. “But it’s most important on a personal level.
The U.S. Army must now refer to whistleblower Chelsea Manning as a woman — not a man. http://t.co/qpdZQsPfle pic.twitter.com/0xKLIlyYJb
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 7, 2015
“You would not like being a called a man,” Hollander said to a female journalist. “And neither does she.”
Lawyers for Chelsea Manning have maintained that Manning’s gender dysphoria has been “trivialized and discounted by officials,” according to MSN, “barring the Oklahoma native from accessing the critical medical attention she needs.”
Army Court Orders Military to Use Correct Pronouns for Chelsea Manning! http://t.co/i6hHmVuT5L pic.twitter.com/ZJ0ZZQ98r5
— The Sparrow Project (@sparrowmedia) March 5, 2015
The U.S. Military still bans transgender individuals from serving in the military.
Nancy Hollander, Chelsea Manning’s legal adviser, the new ruling is “an important victory for Chelsea, who has been mistreated by the government for years.”