'Guess this is what freedom looks like': Chelsea Manning poses in swimsuit for Vogue
Manning, 29, was released from prison in May after serving 7 years of a 35-year sentence
Being comfortable in a bathing suit is a liberating feeling for most women, but especially so for Chelsea Manning.
"Guess this is what freedom looks like," she wrote online Thursday with a photo of herself in a red one-piece that accompanies a new Vogue magazine article about her. The photo was taken by Annie Leibovitz.
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Manning, 29, was released from prison in May after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence, which was commuted earlier this year by Barack Obama in his final days as president.
guess this is what freedom looks like 😊👙💋🏊♀️🚣♀️⛴️🌅🏖️🏙️ <a href="https://twitter.com/voguemagazine">@voguemagazine</a> <a href="https://t.co/g7YYNkcd9l">https://t.co/g7YYNkcd9l</a> 😎🌈💕 <a href="https://t.co/nyAUje52bE">https://t.co/nyAUje52bE</a> <a href="https://t.co/n4ixFkIdVn">pic.twitter.com/n4ixFkIdVn</a>
—@xychelsea
Manning has been lauded as a whistleblower and condemned as a traitor for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 while still known as Pte. 1st Class Bradley Manning, a U.S. military intelligence analyst.
Manning came out publicly as transgender in 2013, shortly after being convicted on 20 charges including violations of the Espionage Act, theft and computer fraud.
At the time she said she wanted to expose what she considered to be the U.S. military's disregard for how the Iraq War was affecting civilians.
In the Vogue article, in the magazine's September issue, Manning reflects on her past and opens up about what's ahead for her — and also talks about her love of fashion.
The swimsuit she wears in the photo is by Norma Kamali.
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The article lands as transgender members of the U.S. military await the fall out from Trump's announcement last month that transgender people will banned from the military.