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According to a local newscast, the defense team for Pvt. Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking secret documents to Wikileaks, says Manning has Gender-Identity-Disorder. It was one of his alternate female personalities that leaked the documents. ???????
I have not been able to come up with a source for that last statement, but the APWire has this in it's story: "The defense has said that Manning, who is gay, was bullied by fellow soldiers. Manning's defense team says he told Adkins he suffered from gender-identity disorder - the belief that he was born the wrong sex."
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16029/contentdetail.htm?contentgui...
Now I gotta think this is going to cause repercussions for the LGBTQ community. 'It wasn't my fault!!! Being gay and GID made me do it!!!' Really the kind of publicity we don't want or need!
And it would seem that either the defense team doesn't know shit about what being gay and/or GID really means; or they don't give a shit how many facts they distort in order to get their client off. They get to walk away at the end, but we in the LGBTQ community are likely going to pay the price.
Yeah, I'm pissed.
Comments
"One of his GID personalities" did it?!
I think he watched DRESSED TO KILL one too many times. Horrible.
As idiotic defenses go it's right up there with Dan White's Twinkie defense
and Coach Sandusky's "I was just teaching them hygeine" story. I hope this goes away.
~sigh, hug, Veronica
What borders on stupidity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
sounds very sus
It's sounds like the defenseattorney said you'll have a better chance of getting off if you say this as they'll class it as a mental disorder. But GID has nothing to do with whatever psychosis he might have.
Frustrating...
...GID being equated with Dissociative Identity Disorder is more than just ignorant; it's downright dangerous! I'm not begrudging the client an adequate defense, but I fear, as Karen has described, that it will bring the community undue and misplaced publicity, as well as reinforce an erroneous belief regarding us. I'm even thinking in terms of how it will affect me personally since my wife is bound to see the story on the news somehow and ask me about myself; she loves me but still sees this as something we can 'overcome.' *SIGH*
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
If the defense is seriously
If the defense is seriously going with that tac they are going to lose ugly. The clinical information on the two diagnoses is very different. That would kill their case right there.
Heather
We are the change that will save the world.
Heather
We are the change that will save the world.
I Agree, Heather!
Perhaps a misunderstanding...
If indeed Private Manning has a gender identity disorder, it might well have caused extreme bullying by the troops in that unit. Chronic Stress Disorder sounds like a more plausible defence, although less likely to attract headlines, so I suspect the story may have been 'spun,' whether by the reporters or an extra-legal comment meant to arouse public interest in the case one never knows. With one third of women in the military suffering sexual harassment, and well over a thousand women assaulted and raped by their fellow soldiers, it seems fairly clear that despite orders from on high, the US military is not a uniformly kind and gentle place for those who fall outside the male norm.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
well, this is worth looking at...
an abbreviated and animated extract of manning's chat logs with the guy that did him in.
http://boingboing.net/2011/12/16/bradley-manning-had-secrets...
clearly he had issues with military life. how severe those issues were is open to interpretation.
not as think as i smart i am
You've misunderstood the situation.
This correspondence Manning had with his confidant has been available for public viewing for months now. In it he states multiple times that he feels gender dysphoric, lonely, and wanting an understanding ear. I've actually read those correspondences. It's quite sad and I felt terrible for the poor kid. Especially since those issues were splashed around for everyone to see. Ironic, I suppose given his leaks of government documents.
The last I heard the defence was arguing that fear over his discovery caused him to feel isolated. That isolation caused him to feel angry. That anger caused him to do what he did. They in no way argued that being GID, alone, caused him to act the way he did.
I'm not saying whether those are legitimate excuses or actions. That's for this court to decide. But nowhere is there any opinion that the documents were leaked because some alternative female personality felt particularly traitorous. I'm not entirely sure where you got that from. It seems rather sensationalist. Manning's defence is trying to say that being GID, during Don't Ask Don't Tell, caused him to keep his feelings bottled up and unable to seek help out of fear.
They're asking for leniency because Manning was under such tremendous stress for being "gay" in an unsympathetic army, being isolated in a foreign country, having no friends to talk with, and feeling that saying anything would put him in jeopardy. He was frustrated and acted irrationally. You know, as humans are known to do.
There is no price for the "community" to pay if he receives leniency unless some over-hyped media starts spouting that gay or GID soldiers are more likely to commit treason. That's not likely to work. You can't know the outcome of this and as such it's not worth fuming about.
Didn't misunderstand anything
Just passing on what I heard on a local news show. As for repercussions, that depends on what sort of image the media paints, not what happens in the Article 3-whatsis hearing and during the courts martial that will follow. Am I concerned about this? Yes. Am I going to lose any sleep over it? No. Did I think it worth mentioning to others? Yes.
Anybody remember when JFK was running for president, it was put forth that as a Catholic he would take orders from the Vatican. Well, politics has gotten a LOT nastier since then, and there are a lot fewer out LGBTQ people than there were Catholics during the '60 election. Anybody want to imagine what the response from the Christian Reich would be the next time the repeal/invalidation of DOMA comes up?
Karen J.
* * *
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. - Winston Churchill
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Treason
This person has committed treason, a crime punishable by death. I am sure that long before we the commom people heard about the charges the investigation was very thorough. The defense on the other hand has to come up with a way to protect his client.
I am sure the prosecutors have all of the evidence as well as psychiatric evaluations.Combat Stress works different on each and eveyr one involved in combat. His being gay came out and knowing how others react to such news he was most likely harassed, treated poorly and his revenge was to hand over information that was a detriment to what was going on.
I spent time in combat, knew I prefered to be feminine. I was there to die. I was made fun of for being a virgin. Sexual harassment in its beginnings. I did not let those bastards wear me down.
This young man made a choice, a very poor choice. The DSM will be on the table at the court martial. Psychiatrist will testify. In just plan observation of what this person did it was not a multiple personality that preformed the treason, It was a choice made by the idividual and a clear wrong choice.
I personally believe he should be lockedup for live plus one day. This ensures no parole.
He took an oath to protect and serve just like thousands before him. Those that can't cut the mustard are soon sortd out. Apparently during boot camp he performed well. they off to whatever schools he was to attend and then off to combat. Somewhere before wh landed into a combat situation he could have outed him self and been with drawn from his unit. He chose to remain quiet and then his secret was discovered. He made a conscious choice to betray his country. Plain and clear.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Well said
I agree with you completely, Jill. I've heard that if you are innocent you are better off in a courts martial, if you are guilty you are better off in a civilian court. Turn that around and that means if you are guilty you are going to be found guilty in a courts martial.
I'm not worried about this affecting his courts martial, I'm sure it will be fair. But he is using a civilian lawyer who is used to trying cases in the court of public opinion, where anything is fair game. So we are going to be hearing most anything they can come up with to cast Manning as an underdog. This is just the opening days of his hearing and eventual courts martial, I expect there's a lot more to come.
Karen J.
* * *
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. - Winston Churchill
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Totally agreed
First and foremost he swore and oath. You don't get to change your mind. If through things he discovered in the course of his job he felt at odds with the material then he should have gone through proper channels or even a psych eval to be relocated to do something else. He could have done a lot of things to get out.
These days it is not about warm bodies for cannon fodder, if you do not want to be in there they do not want you in there either, you are a liability to yourself and those around you.
I don't get the feeling that he did any of this because the material offended his morals.
Sadly this is one more media circus that will connect "gay" and "transgender" and put both in a bad light as a treasonous coward. The ignorant will gladly wrap us all up in one ball with them.
I meet some of the ignorant daily
I don't think the prosecutors are going to accept G.I.D. if any thing at all they will use the Articles of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice(UCMJ) to prosecute. The civilian lawyers will have to adhere to the UCMJ. There are only 134 Articles and I am sure he has been charged with numerous articles. If he committed treason he can be killed by a firing squad. GID is not going to play well in a millitary court as it will fall back on his Enlistment Oath where he originally lied.
I will be speaking to a few of those ignorant people tomorrow at 3:00 PM until 4:30 PM. My position is to make them aware and open their eyes.
.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.