The Army private who leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks said in a statement on NBC's "Today" show Thursday that he intends to live out the rest of his life as a woman -- "the real me".
In the statement, which was read by his attorney, Manning asked that his supporters call him "Chelsea Manning" and refer to him with female pronouns.
"I am Chelsea Manning. I am female," Manning said, through his attorney. "Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition."
Manning has struggled with gender identity. During his trial, an Army psychologist revealed that Manning had e-mailed him a photo of himself in a blonde wig, with lipstick, with the subject line "My Problem." The psychologist said Manning had gender identity disorder, and that the stress of dealing with that may have affected his decision-making.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/08/wikileaks_leaker_bradley_manni.html

