Amazing Grace reminded me of this, so I'm posting it here

This is based on a nightmare or possibly nightmares I had 20 years ago,

For the younger readers, at that time the Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA) had gotten a ballot measure passed overturning an executive order by the state's governor that had forbidden discrimination based on sexual orientation by state agencies.

Emboldened by that success, they had put another measure on the ballot. This one forbade the state, or lower levels of government from "recognizing" homosexuals, sadomasochists and witches. With language that said that recognizing included issuing any sort of license or permit.

And there may have been something about schools saying anything "positive" (essentially, worded such that the only allowable mentions would have to be negative). Or that may have been part of the one they tried the next election.

Supposedly the bit about licenses and permits was supposed to keep them from becoming "professionals". You know, doctors, lawyers etc. But as some folks pointed out, the actual wording allowed a lot more.

Campaigning on both sides got rather heated. And then there was a firebombing of a house that a number of folks in the state capitol who were important in the campaign against Measure 9 lived in. It later turned out to be totally unrelated to the campaign (idiots got the wrong house!). But at the time it really ratcheted up the fear.

Now consider that at the time I was on the Board of a local BDSM group and before the ballot measure went public we'd done some publicity that included photos of all the board members. And while not strictly gay, I was definitely bi.

So against that background...

Everyone had heard the warnings. Many times. "First they came for the Jews..." and all the others.

Alas, the very title of one warning that was once well known summed up the problem. Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here. Maybe it's still available from Project Gutenberg in your country.

Just like we'd been warned, it started out by targeting a group "everyone" could agree was bad. Actually, several.

Measure 9 was the ballot initiative. It targeted homosexuals, sadomasochists and witches. Lumping them together like that helped convey the impression that they were all the same sort of sick, dangerous people.

Of course the people backing it made sure to trot out the old lies about them being dangers to children and all the rest.

And the quest for equal rights was twisted into "no special rights".

So the measure "merely" said that state and local governments couldn't "recognize" gays and the rest. Oh yes, they weren't to be allowed to get licenses or permits.

The backers piously claimed that they just meant things like professional licenses. Can't have them being doctors or lawyers. Or, heaven forbid, teachers.

The voices protesting that as written the law went much farther were called alarmists. Obviously nobody would actually try to do any of those things.

The violence against some of the opposition swayed some voters, but it was too little too late. Measure 9 passed. And became part of the state constitution.

It progressed slowly at first. Some professionals found that they couldn't get their licenses renewed. And other folks couldn't get ones.

There was muttering. But still most people weren't really affected.

The first major disruption was when the OCA (the folks who'd introduced the bill) presented the state with a list (gained by various means) of most "out" gays, lesbians, pagans, and kinky folks.

They'd done some interesting stretching and a lot of folks wondered how exactly they managed to class some folks as "homosexual" or "witches".

The big problem was that they demanded the state obey the law and withdraw recognition from these folks. Professional licensing and a lot of permits went.

People tried to fight, but before they could, they ran into the problem that the OCA's lawyers were arguing that these "homosexuals" (or whatever other category they'd placed them in) couldn't file the court papers to challenge.

It didn't help that they'd started with folks who were out. So they couldn't exactly claim that they didn't fall into the targeted class.

Some folks moved out of state, others found other jobs.

Though moving out of state wasn't as helpful as you'd think. Seems that the win in Oregon had prompted groups in other states to put similar laws on the ballot. Many were amendments to their state's constitutions. And far too many were passing.

The real turning point was when it was successfully claimed in court (just as the measures opponents had feared) that it really did cover all licenses and permits.

They graciously allowed the state to issue special ID cards on the grounds that they needed to be able to identify us even if they wouldn't let us drive anymore.

Within a few years of that, we were swiftly becoming unpersons. Unemployment (for us) soared because businesses didn't want to deal with the extra hassles involved with employing us.

To "help" us, they set up a program to provide housing for us, and work. But away from normal people where we wouldn't be a threat.

Of course, by then not wanting to accept this "generosity" from the state was apt to get you arrested for something. After all, you must be up to no good.

I commented to a friend as the bus carried us into the camp, "Gee. They don't have Arbeit Macht Frei over the gates."

Neither of us laughed. After all, we were fairly sure it was gallows humor. If not now, soon...