Chelsea Manning: Transgender Activist and Whistleblower

Early Life and Military Career

Chelsea Elizabeth Manning was born Bradley Edward Manning on December 17, 1987, in Crescent, Oklahoma. She enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2009 and served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.

Whistleblowing Activities

In 2010, Manning leaked hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic records to the website WikiLeaks. These leaks included the "Iraq War Logs" and the "Afghan War Logs," which provided unprecedented insights into the conduct of the wars.

Trial and Sentence

Manning was arrested in 2010 and charged with espionage and other offenses. In 2013, she was found guilty and sentenced to 35 years in prison. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017, and she was released in 2021.