Chelsea Manning will be released this week

[Terfing]

Meaning that we should expect a big wave of pro-trans news to celebrate...

As far as I can see, only one picture exists of Manning as a woman? In every other picture, they look clearly male?

I wish Manning well. It sounds like they have been in poor mental and physical health for quite some time.

It will be interesting to see how the press reacts. Quite a conflict between genuine admiration/vilification for Manning's actions with pro/anti transgenderism thrown into the mix.

I agree - Manning seems quite fragile. I get the impression that doing the press circuit may not be the best thing her. I think she needs some time to recover from this whole thing.

Just to be clear, I did not start this thread to attack Manning. I am just interested in how the media is going to spin this whole issue.

I nearly made a thread before but changed my mind. A so called "radical feminist" group I am part of have supported a letter writing campaign on behalf of a transwoman who was convicted of a violent crime against a woman.

The support page identifies this person as trans front and centre, however newspaper reports covering the crime (which are 7 years old) only call them a woman and do not at any point mention that they were born male (even the DM who did a complete hate-mongering piece didn't). This leads me to believe the person had surgically transitioned at the time of the attack. The person has seemingly severe mental health issues following significant childhood abuse and has suffered with addiction. The treatment has been identified but not given, or given and withdrawn due to prison restructuring.

I decided against making the thread in the end for a couple of reasons-

1- I am quite inclined to agree with the campaign and may well actively support it (it's one of a number of cases covering all genders -in whatever sense of the word- that is being covered by the campaigners).

2- Although this person is not biologically female and attacked a woman they are being treated, in prison, as a woman and therefore their plight is representative of womens experience with services in prison (this is a bit of a head worker and I may make a thread about this if I can articulate my thoughts clearly enough).

So what's my point? I'm not sure, I suppose it's that I have empathy for this person. I agree they are victim as well as perpetrator and the prison system has let them down horribly. I just don't think it's an appropriate campaign for a radical feminist group to be throwing their weight behind, especially as the campaign group who are championing them have women they support as well.

The posts about Chelsea Manning (who I know very little about) reminded me of this.

*Caveat - All of the above is only if the information on the campaign page is accurate, I haven't looked for additional sources or how legitimate it is.

I wish Manning well. It sounds like they have been in poor mental and physical health for quite some time

Chelsea Manning seems to have had a miserable life generally and whether you think wikileaks was good or bad also seems to be only person involved against whom real sanctions have been taken.

Nothing Manning did involved violence. You say you did not start this thread to attack Manning. I'm not sure it needed starting at all.

@LassWiTheDelicateAir

Yes, Manning is not a directly dangerous individual and this thread is not intended as a direct attack upon her. I wish her the best for the future.

However, I do think that the media's reaction to her release will be interesting, which is what I'd like to discuss here.

The Guardian covered the story a couple of days ago:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/13/chelsea-manning-freedom-us-military-wikileaks

She's Antigone. I don't care about whether she chooses to style herself Antigone or Antigonus. She has shown her personhood and humanity through her actions. She gets to choose who she is. She has done so at great cost to herself.

I'm glad the Creon she had to face was Obama not Trump though.

To be honest, I'm not sure the media as it is is capable of enough subtlety and empathy to portray as this as anything other than a freak show though.

This story is fundamentally about conscience and humanity, love in a general sense. It says something very sad about our society that it is only acceptable to openly model those qualities if you present as female. Equally it is sad that females modeling those qualities are seen by some sections of society as deserving of punishment/control. It also says something sad about our society that only females are really considered suitable candidates for mercy/understanding (either and both because "Boys will be boys" and get away with more, and or/also because those boys who are deemed suitable for punishment cannot expect mercy or understanding). And it is also sad that females have in our society an enhanced need for mercy/understanding, due to the propensity of some others to punish/control others.

I'm glad that Manning is being released but it would be better if the issue of whistle blowing would be separated from the trans issue but sadly the media or groups probably won't.