I knew it. I knew he was transgender. He struggled with telling his father.

This is not a surprise. There is no closet to hide in. I knew it. When I heard his father was being ostracized from visiting, the light when on.

I didn't have a right to speculate with his trial being conducted.

His sexual orientation has nothing to do with his decisions. Transgender is not classified as a mental disorder.

By Susan Heavey and Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON | Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:00am EDT

Manning (click here) received the sentence on Wednesday for giving more than 700,000 secret files, videos and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. His lawyers had argued the former Army intelligence analyst suffered a sexual identity crisis when he leaked the files while serving in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.
"As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female," Manning, 25, said in the statement read by anchorwoman Savannah Guthrie on NBC News' "Today" show.
"Given the way that I feel and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible," Manning said. "I also request that starting today you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun."
An Army spokeswoman said the Army does not provide hormone therapy or sex-change surgery....