Biography
Cliff Arnesen, a U.S. Army veteran and later president of New England Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans, described his military imprisonment in testimony submitted to the Cox Commission on February 26, 2001. He said he enlisted in 1965 and, during training at Fort Dix, disclosed that he was gay or bisexual. According to his testimony, investigators demanded an act as proof, after which he was court-martialed and sentenced to one year at hard labor. He reported four months in segregated confinement following threats of sexual violence and death. These coercion and abuse allegations are his firsthand account. He later received a discharge based on homosexuality, upgraded in 1977. Exact custody dates and the full time served are not established here.
Cliff Arnesen, a U.S. Army veteran and later president of New England Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans, described his military imprisonment in testimony submitted to the Cox Commission on February 26, 2001. He said he enlisted in 1965 and, during training at Fort Dix, disclosed that he was gay or bisexual. According to his testimony, investigators demanded an act as proof, after which he was court-martialed and sentenced to one year at hard labor. He reported four months in segregated confinement following threats of sexual violence and death. These coercion and abuse allegations are his firsthand account. He later received a discharge based on homosexuality, upgraded in 1977. Exact custody dates and the full time served are not established here. One year at hard labor imposed. Arnesen explicitly reports four months in segregated confinement within the prison term. Four months is a documented component, not an established full custody total; no admission or discharge day is supplied.
