> I don't see how the taxpayers should pay for this [...] I don't care if he wants to become a girl, but he should wait until his/her time is served. Gender id

> I don't see how the taxpayers should pay for this [...] I don't care if he wants to become a girl, but he should wait until his/her time is served. Gender identity disorder / gender dysphoria is a genuine medical condition classified in the DSM (IV and V). For many sufferers it is not a matter of simple "wanting" to change their gender. If you accept that gender dysphoria is a medical condition (as most in the medical and mental health professions have), then the question becomes "should prisoners receive treatment for it?" I would argue that yes, they should. But I live in a country with socialised medicine, where healthcare is provided to all free of charge (including treatment for gender dysphoria). In my mind, being imprisoned deprives you of liberty, but not the right to free healthcare. I imagine many people in America would feel differently - "why", they might say, "should a prisoner get treated for free when I can't afford my own medical bills?". That said, it's not totally clear to me that taxpayers would be paying for Chelsea Manning's treatment? I couldn't find any reference to it in her letter, merely that she hopes to begin hormone treatment shortly.