The best of all the good things about Chelsea Manning, apart from Annie Leibovitz’s swooning swimsuit picture in Vogue, is that she takes no nonsense from transphobic patriots.

She’s the transgender activist and former intelligence analyst who was sentenced to 35 years for leaking thousands of documents exposing the involvement of the US military in a litany of war crimes in Iraq.

Released by Obama in the last week of his presidency, she emerged not at all cowed or contrite or humbly grateful, but feisty and strong and ready to butt heads with any bigot who dared peep over the parapet. Her Twitter feed (@xychelsea) is a terrific read, even if much of it is written in emoji, a language in which I am not yet fluent.