PRESS RELEASE: THE PASSION OF BRADLEY MANNING by CHASE MADAR -UK BOOK TOUR
The Passion of Bradley Manning – Chase Madar
Publication date: 9th May 2013
978 1 78168 069 8
Paperback – 256 pages – £8.99
The Passion of Bradley Manning is available for extraction.
Chase Madar will be in the UK from 6th – 14th May and is available for interview and comment.
Please contact Jennifer Tighe with all media enquiries
EMAIL: jennifer@verso.co.uk TEL: 0207 437 3546
THE PASSION OF BRADLEY MANNING
By Chase Madar
Publishing: 9th May
The Passion of Bradley Manning by Chase Madar tells the gripping story behind the soldier who leaked nearly half a million classified documents to Wikileaks.
Bradley Manning is gay and was considering gender transition when arrested and charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 and with aiding the enemy.
He will face trial in June 2013.
In this book the author examines the arrest, treatment and charges against Bradley Manning.
He also explores how the focus on Bradley’s sexuality has influenced the reaction to and reporting around the case – though this focus has rarely generated any meaningful understanding of or sympathy with gay service people, let alone genuine consideration of the issue of gender transition in the US Armed Forces.
Focus upon Bradley’s sexuality has often deliberately obscured any real examination of his politically driven motives. It’s tempting to figure that Manning’s sexual preference and gender identity played a large role in his alleged deeds. A young sensitive gay man, alienated and brutalized by the Army’s macho culture – it makes some intuitive sense.
However, it is not supported by the facts.
Covered in this book:
– Whistleblowers are always pathologized; their governments refuse to comprehend their political motive, no matter how overt and obvious. In Bradley’s case, the focus has been on his sexuality (his emotional and psychiatric state has also been a focus).
– In America, many Republicans, Tea Partiers & those on the Right have leapt on Manning’s sexuality as proof that gays and lesbians should NOT be allowed in the military and are traitorous by nature (including a now infamous piece by Conservative Ann Coulter )– The assumption that Manning’s alienation from the military was due to being gay in a homophobic environment, when in fact it was motivated by his own political reasons. – Manning himself never linked his sexual preference or gender identity to his actions. In fact, the way he described the military (as described in the book), it seems a virtual magnet for gays and lesbians. – In the United States, some mainstream LGBT activists have shunned Manning. With the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy of prohibiting “out” gays and lesbians from the military finally and triumphantly repealed, few LGBT activists have wanted to rock the boat by defending an accused traitor who just happens to be gay. – In the United Kingdom, where the LGBT rights movement is less beholden to special interest or the military industrial complex, the attitude and mood is very different. Leading gay rights and human rights activist Peter Tatchell has promoted solidarity with Manning at every opportunity! He says about The Passion of Bradley Manning: “Chase Madar has written a powerful, compelling and moving defense of Bradley Manning. Bravo!” – Many reports deliberately miss the point that being a gay man was not remotely unique in the US armed forces. With hundreds of thousands of Americans with access to the same secrets that Manning allegedly leaked, did being gay or transgender really have anything to do with a whistleblower’s sense of responsibility? – Manning’s sexual preference and gender identity make him easier for the military (and certain parts of the media) to marginalize. Sexuality and gender identity are by and large irrelevant to the affair of the leaks. However, not only have the Right talked up Manning as an example of why gays shouldn’t be allowed to serve in the military (tapping into an ageless stream of bigotry that sees all homosexuals as a fifth column of appeasers who sap the national resolve) but there has been worrying echoes on the left too. Some commentators have made an analogous argument but inflected it as a compliment rather than an insult to claim that Manning’s outsider status must give him some special empathy with the Iraqi civilians tortured and terrorized under the US occupation.
Chase is available for interview to talk about his book, these and related issues and the wider implications of case in the lead up to the start of the trial in June 2013.
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Chase Madar is a human rights attorney in New York, where he specializes in youth law, LGBT law and disability law. He reports and reviews for the London Review of Books, Le Monde diplomatique, CounterPunch, Al Jazeera, and the TLS.
Chase is available for comment and interview. Advance copies of the book are now available.
For more information contact jennifer@verso.co.uk
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The Passion of Bradley Manning – Chase Madar
Publication date: 9th May 2013
978 1 78168 069 8
Paperback – 256 pages – £8.99
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