Army Private Chelsea Manning will be nearly 1,800 miles away from the San Francisco Pride parade but she will be recognized nonetheless, having been named an honorary grand marshal of the event.
Manning, a transgender woman, is serving a 35-year prison sentence at the Army prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas after being convicted for leaking classified government documents to WikiLeaks while working as an intelligence specialist for the Army. Her court-martial last year became a rallying point for progressive activists and government secrecy opponents and occurred in the midst of the revelations by former government contractor Edward Snowden of the National Security Agency's massive data mining operations of people's phone calls, emails, and other information.
Manning's grand marshal honor is also an effort by the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee to make up for last year's fiasco. After initially naming Manning as a grand marshal in April 2013, the Pride Committee board reversed itself two days later. Initially then-Pride board President Lisa Williams, in a statement, said that it was a "mistake" to name Manning a grand marshal. Later, the board came out with a second statement that said Manning couldn't be considered for a community grand marshal slot because she is not local.
After several contentious meetings the Pride board declined to recognize Manning in any way for the Pride celebration.
That changed this year, with a new Pride executive director and several new board members. In February, the board voted to name Manning an honorary grand marshal.
"The current Pride board feels we're publicly apologizing to [Manning] and her supporters, and making her an honorary grand marshal to make amends for last year," current Pride board President Gary Virginia told the Bay Area Reporter in a February interview. "She's worthy of the honor for exposing war crimes and advocating for transgender rights within the prison system."
In a recent interview, Virginia elaborated on the board's reasoning.
"The board of directors listened to our membership, which was unhappy about how the honor of community grand marshal was rescinded last year," he said. "At the membership's urging the board made the decision to offer the honorary grand marshal title to Chelsea Manning, for which the honoree is not required to be present in the June 29 parade."
Virginia said that like previous years, there would be a Manning contingent in the parade.
Manning, 26, came out as transgender just after her conviction last summer. Two months ago, a Kansas judge granted Manning's request to formally be known as Chelsea.
Manning will be eligible for parole after serving eight years. Manning's supporters, and there are many, including famed Watergate whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, feel that the leaked documents revealed inconvenient truths about U.S. involvement in the Iraq war. They also say the government pursued the war based on faulty intelligence reports of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction.
Manning is aware of her honorary grand marshal honor, according to Virginia.
"As a trans woman, I appreciate the Pride community's significant role in bringing together diverse communities and elevating the public profile of the fight for queer rights," Manning said in a statement posted at the Chelsea Manning Support Network site. "I have always enjoyed attending Pride celebrations given the opportunity and I'm deeply honored to receive this title."
The Chelsea Manning Support Network continues to advocate on Manning's behalf.
"Our main purpose is first, to help promote Chelsea's case and bring awareness about it to the public," said Farah Mushin al-Mousawi of the network. "And also to help support the financial needs, to give legal aid."
And the support network has helped raise funds to help pay for legal fees. Al-Mousawi said that the network is continuing to work toward clemency, a presidential pardon, or a reduced sentence for Manning.
"Chelsea found it extremely inhumane, the way the military was treating the Iraqi people," Mousawi said in an interview on Free City Radio. "The military was abusing its power and exploiting the citizens of Iraq, resulting in the killings of thousands of Iraqis and killing a lot of Americans as a result. And most of the facts were not told to the American public."
Detractors
Not surprisingly, Manning has her detractors.
Sage Fox, who is believed to be the only out trans person serving in the military �" she's in the Army Reserves but is trying to get discharged so that she can join the California State Military Reserve �" is not a Manning supporter.
In a recent interview, Fox said the Pride board was being hypocritical by honoring Manning yet not allowing the state military reserve, which does not discriminate against trans service members, to have a booth at the Pride festival. (The Pride board voted earlier this year not to allow military recruiters at this year's festival after the National Guard and state reserve were present last year and drew complaints from some in the trans community due to federal law that prohibits open trans service.)
"She is convicted of espionage. How does that honor us?" asked Fox, who views Manning as a traitor.
For his part, Virginia did not respond directly to criticisms of Manning.
"As SF Pride board president, I don't respond," said Virginia. "Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The board of directors made the decision to honor Manning based on our membership's urging us to do so."
The next step for Manning's transition is being allowed to receive hormone therapy. In May, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is trying to transfer her to a civilian prison for gender treatment. The Defense Department does not offer such treatment, the paper noted, and Manning cannot be discharged while serving her prison sentence.
"Whether the Pentagon likes it or not, Chelsea is a military service member and responsibility for her falls on the military," Manning attorney David Coombs wrote on his blog. "Chelsea has been asking for medical treatment from the military for the past 10 months. So far, the military has outright ignored her requests. The military absolutely needs to revisit its policy on transgender medical care and adapt it to 21st century medical standards. It cannot continue to bury its head in the sand any longer."
Earlier this month, Or Books published The United States vs. Private Chelsea Manning, a graphic novel about the Manning court-martial. Or's website states that artist and WikiLeaks activist Clark Stoeckley wrote and drew the book from inside the courtroom.