Pentagon weighs Manning’s request for gender treatment (Washingtonpost)

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — The Pentagon is considering transferring Ptv. Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison where the soldier serving time for leaking classified documents could receive medical treatment for gender dysphoria, Defense officials said Wednesday.

That option is among several Army leaders are weighing as they wrestle with a dilemma that is likely to set precedent on a fraught issue for the Pentagon, which has come under increasing pressure

 to reexamine its prohibition on allowing transgender people to serve in uniform.Manning, who joined the Army as a man, and formerly used the name Bradley, isserving a 35-year sentence for leaking a trove of sensitive military documents and diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy group Wikileaks. While the Pentagon routinely discharges transgender service members who take steps to transition to the sex they identify with, it will retain custody of Manning for years.

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“The Secretary approved a request by Army leadership to evaluate potential treatment options for inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is meeting with Gulf defense chiefs. “No decision to transfer Private Manning to a civilian detention facility has been made, and any such decision will, of course, properly balance the soldier’s medical needs with our obligation to ensure Private Manning remains behind bars.”

Speaking to reporters en route to Jeddah on Monday, Hagel said that he is disinclined to formally review the Pentagon’s policies that bar transgender people from serving in the military, but is keen to learn more about the issue.

“I’ve not asked for a specific task force,”Hagel said. “I’ve not asked for a specific study. I would want to hear more from individuals who are close to this issue, know this issue, who I would value their judgement and their direction on.”

But Hagel, who has been criticized for disparaging remarks he made in 1997 about the propriety of nominating an openly gay man to serve as ambassador in Luxemburg, seemed to signal a degree of sympathy for transgender people who want to serve.

“I believe that all qualified individuals who want to serve their country in uniform should have an opportunity to do that,” he said. The secretary added that the “medical dimensions” of this issue make it more complex than others the Pentagon has wrestled with, such as the 2011 repeal of the policy that barred openly gay people from serving.

Manning, who is being held at an Army prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., asked medical personnel there last August to provide her with “a treatment plan consistent with the recognized professional standards of care for trans health,” according to a statementattributed to the soldier posted last month on a Web site run by supporters.

“They quickly evaluated me and informed me that they came up with a proposed treatment plan,” the statement said. “However, I have not yet seen their treatment plan, and in over eight months, I have not received any response as to whether the plan will be approved or disapproved, or whether it follows the guidelines of qualified health professionals.”