Manning has felt female since 2009 and possibly earlier. While on leave, she was incredibly comfortable with this gender identity, "trying to blend in as a bored woman looking for something interesting to do even though I was actually exhilarated." After the leaks (but before going to prison), she wrote: "I wouldn't mind going to prison for the rest of my life [for leaking information], or being executed so much, if it wasn't for the possibility of having pictures of me... plastered all over the world press... as [a] boy... [...] the CPU is not made for this motherboard..."

The absolute worst disservice we - as random onlookers - can do to people with gender dysphoria is to deny their sense of self.

Please try not to.

> Feeling female and actually being one are two very different things.

Feeling female can be an early indication that you are a woman.

> I do not deny that gender dysphoria is a clinical diagnosis, but that does not mean we should enable an unhealthy behavior.

On the off chance you actually care about Chelsea Manning's health, please stop referring to her as "he."

what does "feeling female" mean?

In this case, it's simply a quote from a counselor Manning spoke with, describing the moment when Manning first identified herself as female. [1]

This situation is typically referred to as gender dysphoria - the mismatch of sex assigned at birth with gender identity. For some trans people (Manning included) the most effective ways to resolve gender dysphoria may include hormone replacement therapy or surgery. There are lots of good articles on this if you want to read more about it, including a very good piece by a clinical psychiatrist for the NYT. [2]

[1] http://nymag.com/news/features/bradley-manning-2011-7/index4...

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/opinion/sunday/richard-a-...