Chelsea Manning appears in swimsuit in Vogue

Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier released in May after serving seven years in prison for leaking government documents to WikiLeaks, is featured in a bathing suit in the upcoming issue of Vogue.

• Chelsea Manning posts new image of herself day after release from prison
  

"Guess this is what freedom feels like," Manning tweeted with an image, shot by Annie Leibovitz.

Manning, who was granted clemency in the final days of President Obama's presidency, has been living in New York City since her release.

The article details Manning's life in the army and after she was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. She came out as transgender one day after the sentencing, and publicly came out to NBC's "Today."

 "I was honestly a bit surprised by the outpouring of love and support that I got," she told Vogue.

Manning has become somewhat of a social-media celebrity since being released from prison. She told the magazine that she is not sure about her future career plans, but she said she is at work on a memoir.

The photos and accompanying article, unsurprisingly, lit up social media. Some praised Manning's photo shoot ("simply lovely" and "brave"), but others criticized the magazine for both featuring a trans woman and for featuring a person who was controversially released from prison early.

While the September issue of Vogue is traditionally one of the most ad-packed and profitable issues of the magazine, this year's issue was already creating controversy online the same day it was published. The cover featured Jennifer Lawrence by the Statue of Liberty, which some conservative activists took as a criticism of President Trump. In response, one of the editors tweeted that it was shot in June.

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• Chelsea Manning