LGBT Community Must Support Gay Alleged Wikileaker Bradley Manning

GLN permalink 6-15-2011

Bradley Manning, a gay man, is the alleged source of the Wikileaks revelations which blew the lid off of U.S. war crimes in Iraq and exposed America's dealings with corrupt and brutal dictators around the world.

His alleged leaks show that both the Bush and Obama administrations have cynically sought political and economic gain for the U.S. while thumbing their noses at gross human rights violations. In turn, the revelations helped spur the North African "Arab Spring," helping dismantle a string of despots who had savagely repressed their peoples for decades.

Manning's mistreatment by the authorities before he was transferred to Ft. Leavenworth prison bore many of the same hallmarks of homophobically-tinged sexual humiliation inflicted on prisoners at Iraq's Abu-Ghraib prison and elsewhere. Manning's case is one that LGBT's and human rights supporters must champion.