"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. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible,"
"First, your honor, I want to start off with an apology. I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States.
At the time of my decisions, as you know, I was dealing with a lot of issues, issues that are ongoing and continuing to affect me. Although a considerable difficulty in my life, these issues are not an excuse for my actions.
I understood what I was doing, and decisions I made. However, I did not fully appreciate the broader effects of my actions.
Those factors are clear to me now, through both self-refection during my confinement in various forms, and through the merits and sentencing testimony that I have seen here.
I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people.
The last few years have been a learning experience. I look back at my decisions and wonder how on earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly believe I could change the world for the better (unintelligible) on decisions of those with the proper authority.
In retrospect, I should have worked more aggressively inside the system, as we discussed during the provenance statement. I had options, and I should have used these options.
Unfortunately, I can't go back and change things. I can only go forward. I want to go forward. Before I can do that, I understand that I must pay a price for my decisions and actions.
Once I pay that price, I hope to one day live in a manner that I haven't been able to in the past. I want to be a better person, to go to college, to get a degree and to have a meaningful relationship with my sister, with my sister's family and my family.
I want to be a positive influence in their lives, just as my Aunt Debra has been to me. I have flaws and issues that I have to deal with, but I know that I can and will be a better person.
I hope that you can give me the opportunity to prove, not through words, but through conduct, that I am a good person and that I can return to a productive place in society. Thank you, your honor."
Bradley Manning, the source of one of WikiLeak's largest disclosures of U.S. secrets, was found guilty of most of the charges against him today, but not the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
Manning had already pleaded guilty to 10 of the less serious of the 22 charges in a deal that got him an expected 20 years in prison. Today a military judge announced the court's finding on the rest of the charges, a majority of them guilty verdicts. However, Manning managed to avoid the charge of aiding the enemy, which could have carried with it a life sentence. The sentencing face of Manning's trial begins Wednesday.More to come
"Our message to SF Pride is that they should make Manning a grand marshal of this year's Pride march and celebration because of his brave act of whistleblowing against the military industrial complex. We are fed up with marriage and military concerns sucking the oxygen out of what used to be a queer movement and Pride march and celebration about social justice for queers."Activists need to look at the bigger picture sometimes.
"Manning's blatant disregard for the safety of our service members and the security of our nation should not be praised. The group, which advocates for same-sex military families, had called on the Pride Committee to rescind the invitation.Harsh words, but very real.
"No community of such a strong and resilient people should be represented by the treacherous acts that define Bradley Manning,"
