Salon, the Web Magazine for Dumb People: Why Is the Media Referring to Bradley Manning, Who is a Man Named Bradley Manning, as a Man Whose Name Is Bradley Manning?

But he says he's a girl now and his name is Chelsea!

He also said he was innocent and I guess the media are ignoring his self-identification on that score, too.

Chelsea Manning, the whistle-blower sentenced to 35 years in military prison for leaking classified documents, released a statement on Thursday to announce that she identifies as female and intends to begin hormone therapy as part of her gender transition. Manning also requested that the public refer to her by her chosen name, Chelsea, and adopt feminine pronouns to describe her.

But the media isn’t listening.

With a few notable exceptions — including MSNBC, Rolling Stone and The Guardian – reports from the mainstream press willfully misgendered Manning while reporting this news.

Hang on, it's about to go from silly to sublime:

(Full disclosure: In Salon’s earliest report, I introduced the story by referring to Chelsea as Bradley Manning, believing it would be clarifying and help to set context. I have since edited the piece, referring to Chelsea by her chosen name while adding a parenthetical about her former name, to more accurately and respectfully reflect the content of the story and the truth of Manning’s identity.)

OJ Simpson just emailed me to say he now identifies as The Guy Who Didn't Kill Niccole Brown and Ron Goldman "The Juice" Simpson.

posted by Ace at 03:12 PM

| Access Comments