Originally posted December 12, 2016
December 17th is Chelsea Manning’s birthday.
Chelsea, the world’s most prominent LGBT whistleblower, has exposed U.S. war crimes and immoral dealings with brutal dictators from Iraq to Afghanistan to Honduras and has deeply embarrassed and offended the U.S. foreign policy establishment.
According to a recent New Republic article, she has “served more time behind bars than any other whistleblower in history” and was “held in solitary confinement for 11 months before her trial, which she likened to torture; and it took Army officials nearly 18 months after she sought treatment for gender dysphoria to approve her for hormone treatments, but she is still required to conform to male military dress standards.”
The end of presidencies is a traditional time for pardons, and the next few weeks is Chelsea Manning’s best bid to finally win her freedom, especially since President-elect Trump has threatened to erase all protections for transgender military personnel, including those like Chelsea who are incarcerated.
Actions around the world honoring Chelsea Manning and calling on President Obama to commute her sentence to time served will be held on Friday, December 17th.
In Chicago we will meet at 5:30 PM at the corner of Halsted and Roscoe Streets for a vigil and speak-out. Please join us!