Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday morning for his role in the WikiLeaks scandal that brought an unprecendented amount of scrutiny on the United States government's military actions. Now that he's headed to jail, Manning says he wants to live as a woman.

"Given the way that I feel and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible," Manning said in the statement. "I also request that starting today you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun."

Manning's self-identification as someone who wants to transition from male to female was used in his defense in court. His lawyer, David Coombs, attempted to use Manning's condition as evidence for his fragile mental state, perhaps easing the public perception of him as a rebel.

Manning believes that the military prison where he will stay, Fort Leavenworth, should foot the bill for his gender reassignment. Officials at the prison say that gender reassignment is not part of the schedule of procedures that they cover there. Coombs says that he will continue to fight for his client in his battle over gender.

"I'm hoping that Fort Leavenworth will do the right thing and provide that. If Fort Leavenworth does not, then I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they are forced to do so," Coombs said.

Though it would seem unlikely that Manning would be able to receive such treatment, as it is not a life-threatening condition, he might actually stand a decent chance of getting his wish. There is growing scientific literature on the subject, and gender reassignment has vastly grown in both scope and public acceptance in the past couple of decades.

"In the United States, it is illegal to deny health care to prisoners. That is fairly settled law," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "Now the Army can claim this isn't health care, but they have the weight of the medical profession and science against them."