Chelsea Manning: Looking Pretty at the Out Magazine “Out 100” Event

Trans woman Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. Army soldier who was court-martialed in 2013 for leaking 750,000 classified or sensitive documents to WikiLeaks, has been named Out Magazine’s 2017 Newsmaker Of The Year at the magazine’s annual Out 100 gala last night.

She told the crowd:

“There’s a lot of commentators out there, but I don’t feel that’s my role. My role is to motivate people and remind them that there are ways in which we can defend ourselves.”

Manning’s 35-year sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in January after spending almost seven years in military prison after her arrest in 2010.

Since her release, Manning has been busy on the speaker’s circuit talking about government transparency and trans issues. She had a very public setback earlier this year when Harvard University rescinded their offer of a fellowship due to hrash criticism over the appointment.

Manning:

“Transgender people face struggles and challenges in so many aspects of our life that are about more than just visibility and being out there. This is not a new reality, this is what reality has been the whole time.”

Of POTUS rolling back LGBTQ Rights, Manning added:

“It’s more in our face than it’s been before, but after this we’re still going to be facing the same threats… they just seem bigger now. There’s no way they’re going to shut me up. The more they intimidate me, the louder I get.”

“The bathroom bill has turned into a battleground, but trans people didn’t start that battle… it wasn’t an issue until it was turned into one, and it’s a way to undermine our ability to even exist.”

The Out 100 Event was presented by Lexus at the Altman Building in beautiful Manhattan. Manning looked stunning in a flirty midnight blue dress cocktail dress with velvet bow, fingerless gloves and iconic Doc Martens combat boots, styled by Miss Chelsea herself. For accessories, Manning kept it simple with a silver watch and her dogtags that has been wearing ever since her release from the U.S. Army Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.I am throwing in a gratuitous photo of Miss Jackson from the same gala, just because she is looking so fierce.