Bradley Manning Transgender: Wikileaker Says She Wishes To Live As Female Named Chelsea Manning

While the news of Bradley Manning being transgender isn't exactly new (it was brought up several times during his Wikileaks case), today Manning went whole hog and made the announcement that she wishes to live as a female named Chelsea Manning from now on. 

Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for her massive dump of confidential info onto the Internet, made the announcement via written statement that her lawyer read on Today.

The entire statement is below:

Subject: The Next Stage of My Life

I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of support and encouragement have helped keep me strong. I am forever indebted to those who wrote to me, made a donation to my defense fund, or came to watch a portion of the trial. I would especially like to thank Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network for their tireless efforts in raising awareness for my case and providing for my legal representation.

As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back.

Thank you,

Chelsea E. Manning

Manning's lawyer David Coombs says that he will fight for Manning to be able to receive hormone therapy while detained and made it clear that Manning's issues with gender identity were never used as an excuse for Manning's decision to leak 700,000 classified documents.

"The stress that he was under was mostly to give context to what was going on at the time," Coombs said. "It was never an excuse because that's not what drove his actions. What drove his actions was a strong moral compass." 

Watch the complete interview with Manning's lawyer below:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy