Chelsea Manning Wellington's Queer Avengers are to picket the US Embassy this Saturday to express their solidarity with imprisoned US military intelligence whistleblower, transwoman Chelsea Manning Manning is currently imprisoned in a male military detention facility with the US military saying it is unable to provide facilities or support for her transition. The Queer Avengers say the oppression of gender and sexual minorities is an international problem, demanding an international movement. “We stand against oppression everywhere,” says Queer Avenger Ian Anderson. Anderson supports both Manning’s release, and respect for her self-identification. “Manning was unjustly imprisoned for exposing the crimes of US imperialism,” says Anderson. “Now she faces imprisonment in a male prison, although she identifies as a woman.” Imprisonment is also an issue in New Zealand with transwomen offenders still being locked up in male prisons. “As we saw with Glen Cooper’s case,” says Anderson. “Transwomen are forced into male prisons here as in the United States.” The protest outside the US Embassy, 29 Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon, will commence at 2pm. [Editor's note: There has been some criticism that our GayNZ.com Daily News news story reporting on Manning's desire to now be identified as a woman initially referred to her by her male identity. This was the clearest way of briefly conveying the then and now aspect of the transition which occurred in her identity and life and we stand by that story. The story was a bridge between the reality of the present and the reality of the past. From the moment our brief story states Manning's specific request that story, and all subsequent coverage, refers to her female identity only. Whilst Chelsea now identifies as a woman, which we acknowledge and respect, we cannot erase the fact that she once identified, and was internationally generally understood to be, male. GayNZ.com cannot ethically go back through our archived stories and change them all. They constitute a historical record which is factual at the time these stories were published and must remain so. We cannot erase or change our communities' recorded histories, to do so would, we believe, set a dangerous precedent. GayNZ.com has been a tireless and proactive supporter of the rights of transpeople as a look through our ongoing coverage will attest. We will continue to support the calls for full legal and social equality for all glbti people]