[Flipside]

On a more humanitarian side of things, maybe being a transvestite wouldn't have lead to any sort of outcome from dis-illusioned members of the military had the army not spent years pretending they didn't exist. Being transvestite does not make him a 'monster' and even if he was, it was a monster made by the policies of the very system he betrayed.

[AdmiralRalwood]

On a more humanitarian side of things, maybe being a transvestite wouldn't have lead to any sort of outcome from dis-illusioned members of the military had the army not spent years pretending they didn't exist. Being transvestite does not make him a 'monster' and even if he was, it was a monster made by the policies of the very system he betrayed.

Transvestite != transsexual.

[Grizzly]

To further rexplain:
A transvestite is a man who likes to dress up like a woman. Possibly it works both ways, but emancipation.

A transsexual is someone who was "born in the wrong body" - one with the mind of a man but with the body of a woman or vice versa. This is more complicated then one thinks - the mind itself actually has a "roadmap" of a male body instead of a female one, just like your mind still gives you the information that you have a right arm, even when it has been amputated.

[Flipside]

The only thing I have absolute proof of is transvestite (and that was only one photograph, I think my ex has a similar one of me from when she attacked me with her make-up box), yes, he may indeed feel he is a woman trapped in a mans body, I play in a band with a post-op transsexual, have done for over 20 years, and the concept of sexuality, particularly when other mental issues are involved, is a lot more complex than it is being made out to be. What I find more worrying is the ominous appearing assumption that this somehow makes a difference to the point where the word used is raised as a discussion point, rather than the actual point I was making...

Edit : Or to put it more succinctly, wearing a dress and make-up and saying you are a transsexual does not a transsexual make, especially when that claim is being made by a man facing the death sentence. Whatever the opinion on his actions, his sexuality, whatever that may be, had nothing to do with his actions directly. But several years of him not being able to explore or understand that sexuality on pain of losing his job has probably had an impact on his mental state.

It takes years to decide whether you are truly transsexual or not, and a lot of soul-searching and counselling, to try and roll that out given Mannings current mental situation was a pretty cheap trick.

As another example, one of the other members of the band I play in spent 2 years believing he was a transsexual, even started to make arrangements for an op. In the end, he decided he was a Gay Transvestite, which is not a woman trapped in a mans body, it's a homosexual who likes wearing a dress, and there is a big difference between the two.