Accused WikiLeaks source Pvt. Bradley
Manning won't serve as an honorary grand marshal of San Francisco's
annual gay pride celebration after all.
San Francisco Pride board President
Lisa William explained in a statement released Friday that earlier
reports that Manning would be honored by the group were false.
“That was an error, and that person
has been disciplined,” Williams said. “He does not now, nor did
he at the time, speak for SF Pride.”
Williams said that Manning was on a
consideration list approved by a committee of former San Francisco
Pride grand marshals but that the Pride board did not select him.
“In point of fact, less than 15
people actually cast votes for Bradley Manning,” Williams said.
“However, as an organization with a responsibility to serve the
broader community, SF Pride repudiates this vote.”
The 25-year-old Manning, who is openly
gay, is in custody at a military prison in Kansas while he awaits
trial. It was expected that the board would name an intermediary to
stand-in on Manning's behalf.
The American Military Partner
Association, a support group for military LGBT families, had
denounced the announcement, saying that it was “outraged.”
“No community of such a strong and
resilient people should be represented by the treacherous acts that
define Bradley Manning,” the group said in a statement.
Others disagreed. Rainey Reitman, a
member of the Bradley Manning Support Network, called Manning a “gay
American hero who sacrificed a great deal so we could learn the truth
about our government.”