Chelsea Manning is officially a free citizen [1]. The former soldier was released from a military prison in Kansas on May 17 and celebrated her freedom with a photo of herself in a pair of black and white Converse Chucks. "First steps of freedom!!" she wrote on her Instagram account along with follow-up photo of a slice of "hot, greasy pizza." Manning first made headlines back in 2010 when she was arrested for leaking a large amount of classified military information to WikiLeaks. Before Barack Obama ended his final term as president, he commuted Manning's 35-year sentence.
In 2013, Manning officially announced she is transgender [2] to the public with an open letter shared by The Guardian. Manning wrote about her identity, saying, "I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female." Shortly after, many in the transgender community rallied around Manning [3] and frequently voiced their support for her to be released.
On the day of Manning's official release from prison, comic-book creator Magdalene Visaggio tweeted out a call for transgender girls to "tweet their chucks in solidarity with [C]helsea," which led to #ChucksForChelsea, which features photos of trans women wearing the classic sneakers in support of Manning. Keep reading to see a few of the powerful images ahead.
First steps of freedom!! 😄 . . #chelseaisfree [5]
trans girls should tweet their chucks in solidarity with chelsea
— Magdalene Visaggio (@MagsVisaggs) May 17, 2017 [6]
@MagsVisaggs [7] pic.twitter.com/t1sZv1V0c0 [8]
— Colette (↙↙↙) (@_electrocutie) May 17, 2017 [9]
#ChucksForChelsea [10] @xychelsea [11]
congratulations hen :) much love x pic.twitter.com/Ch7E8igweW [12]— ☿ Neònach ⛤ (@_AlexRobin) May 17, 2017 [13]
#ChucksForChelsea [14] Taken in 2003. Rock on. pic.twitter.com/fjjJGSCyDP [15]
— Stephanie (@StephVirDied) May 17, 2017 [16]