Chelsea Manning must go by female, gender-neutral terms in court

Washington - Chelsea Manning, the US soldier serving a 35-year prison sentence for a massive document leak, should be addressed in gender-neutral or feminine terms in court documents as she transitions into a woman, judges said.

The move comes a month after the US Army approved hormone therapy for Manning's gender "reassignment" - in a first for the American military.

"All future formal papers filed before this court and all future orders and decisions issued by this court shall either be neutral, eg Private First Class Manning or appellant, or employ a feminine pronoun" said a court order on Wednesday.