Chelsea Manning

“This is my problem… it’s the cause of my pain and confusion”. This statement, along with a picture of herself wearing a wig, is what Chelsea Manning sent to a superior in 2010 while working as an intelligence analyst in the Iraq War. Secrets were a big part of her personal and professional life.

After a difficult upbringing, Chelsea enlisted in the US Military to serve in the wars with Iraq and Afghanistan. Manning’s public coming out was especially complex because it happened at the same time as the biggest leak of classified documents in the history of the country. Not only did she disclose these files to Wikileaks (revealing evidence of abuse towards civilians by US Soldiers) but she also began her transition at the same time as a prospective thirty-five-year prison sentence.

Her story is one of taking risks, and while LGBTQ+ people certainly know about struggle, her public profile and the military context makes this a trickier case than most. In several interviews, she insists that her participation in the leaks and her coming out are not related. But the image of a 6x12 ft. cell in which she suffered psychological and physical abuse, as recognised by the judge in court, suggests a powerful metaphor.

Manning’s sentence was reduced by President Obama in 2017 and she was released. After running for Senate in the Democratic Party, making a documentary, advocating for trans rights and living her best life among pen-pals, Chelsea was sentenced to prison once more in 2020, for her refusal to testify before the grand jury relating to the case against WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange. After attempting to take her own life in March 2020, she was later released once it was determined that her presence in jail had no purpose.

Is the world ready to accept trans people in public life beyond Netflix documentaries? From informer to activist, from traitor to hero, Chelsea’s life is an example of the wide range of identities we still need to fight for the system to include. Both her urgency and determination are characteristics of what an LGTBQ+ activist looks like in the millennial world.