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Lesbian Couple’s Marriage Lawsuit Motivates Lawmaker To Warn About Health Risks Of Anal Sex

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Republican state Representative Steve Hickey was motivated to write a rambling and incoherent letter to the editor after news broke of a lesbian couple in his home state of South Dakota filing a federal lawsuit to overturn the state ban on same-sex marriage. The letter focuses on what he sees as the evils of the “gay lifestyle” — and the medical health risks of anal sex. Ironically, lesbians are generally considered the least likely to practice anal sex. 

The 46-year old Hickey, whose full-time occupation is being a pastor, exposed his hand when he titled the missive. “A One Way Alley for the Garbage Truck.”

Pastor Hickey writes that “gay sex is not good for the body or mind. Pardon a crude comparison but regarding men with men, we are talking about a one-way alley meant only for the garbage truck to go down. Frankly, I’d question the judgment of doctor [sic] who says it’s all fine.”

Never mind the fact that “gay sex” isn’t really a thing, and different-sex couples also practice anal intercourse — voraciously. In fact, the CDC reported in 2011 that almost half of heterosexuals under 45 have anal sex. Chances are strong that number has increased.

Hickey, sounding like Maggie Gallagher, goes on to claim that it’s “not hate for a physician to speak up about something that is harmful to human health.”

Of course, Hickey presumes that all same-sex couples practice anal sex, likely a very untrue assertion. He also seems to be concerned about the risk of HIV/AIDS, while ignoring the fact that marriage tends to increase rates of monogamy and monogamy tends to decrease rates of exposure to HIV. In short, if same-sex marriage were legal across the nation, the rates of HIV infection would likely decrease.

In a phone interview with Talking Points Memo, Hickey reportedly “acknowledged that heterosexual couples ‘absolutely’ participate in anal sex, too, but then proceeded to focus squarely on the ‘health of homosexuality.'”

“I said let’s talk about it from a medical vantage point,” Hickey told TPM. “I do believe, and I’ve heard enough medical people talking about the intimidation factor and silencing that’s going on. And you just don’t talk about it. You know, you practice medicine and it’s an issue of politicized medicine and junk science and agenda-driven studies. When the average person can just, you know, what’s self-evident is that [anal sex] isn’t good.”

Vox has an excellent analysis of Hickey’s claims about “gay sex,” chastising him for not “trying to look up the vast body of research before writing an angry open letter to medical providers.”

“It is not unloving to tell people you don’t have to have sex with and marry someone to love and be loved by them,” Hickey writes. “As one who performs marriages and counsels couples as part of my professional life, marriage is the last thing I’d recommend to someone who simply wants to be loved and legitimized.”

(On a very personal note, having been married in front of my closest friends and family, I can attest, as many other gay people who have been legally married have told me, that in fact, getting married to someone you love, in front of friends and family, is an amazing act of both love and legitimization.)

As a lawmaker, Hickey has voted as a staunch right wing conservative. He co-sponsored and voted “to pass a bill that prohibits Saturdays, Sundays, and any annually recurring holiday from being included in the required 72-hour waiting period prior to an abortion procedure,” because apparently women can’t think on the weekends? (It passed.) He voted “to pass a bill that amends the definition of domestic abuse to only include violence against partners of the opposite sex who are in an intimate relationship and who live, or have lived, together.” He voted “to override a veto of a bill that authorizes individuals 18 years and older with valid South Dakota driver’s licenses to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.” He voted against Common Core education standards, and to eliminate teacher tenure. And he co-sponsored and voted for a bill “urging academic study of the Bible in public schools.” It too passed. He also voted to prohibit employment of undocumented immigrants and for drug testing for welfare recipients.

Apparently, response to Hickey’s letter — which has yet to be printed in his local paper — has not been positive:

Image: Hickey For State House 

Hat Tip: Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

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Melania Trump Hails Herself as a ‘Visionary’ at Women’s History Month Event

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March 12, 2026

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First Lady Melania Trump, in remarks at a White House Women’s History Month celebration, hailed herself as a “visionary” as she gave advice to guests.

“As a visionary, I know success is not born overnight, but rather takes shape after long, and sometimes challenging process,” the First Lady said. She also described herself as “a mother, humanitarian, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.”

Mrs. Trump also mentioned her new film, “Melania,” saying that she “shaped its creative direction, served as a producer, managed post production and activated the marketing campaign.”

Noting that “curiosity is a core value” that keeps her “ahead of the curve,” she said that her “unrestricted mindset” has led her to “build across very different sectors,” including, “fashion, digital assets, publishing, accessories, skincare, commercial television, and of course, filmmaking.”

Sharing advice and personal experience, Mrs. Trump told the audience, “Often alone at the top, I follow my passion. Listen to my instincts, and always maintain a laser focus.”

She also declared that the “strength of America is closely tied to the role women play in shaping their children’s character, education, and morals. The values cultivated within our communities shape the voice and vision of our next generation.”

“A woman’s influence strengthens our democracy, capital markets, and time-tested business institutions,” she said. “Across the country today, women are finding unique ways to balance career, ambition, and family.”

Image via Reuters 

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‘Seems to Be No Plan’ Expert Says on Trump Securing Iran’s Nuclear Material to End War

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March 12, 2026

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President Donald Trump says he is bombing Iran so it “does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” but a veteran nuclear policy expert is blasting his war strategy, warning there appears to be no plan to secure Iran’s nuclear stockpile — a failure that could leave the U.S. in the “worst of all worlds” while Iran is “holding all the nuclear cards.”

“This may be the worst planned war in history,” Joe Cirincione told Mother Jones. “I see no sign that they knew what they were doing. It seemed to be just literally bomb, bomb, bomb. There didn’t seem to be a plan for how you were going to get at that particular material. If there is one, it hasn’t emerged.”

He warns, “there seems to be no plan for how to end this war.”

“Almost all wars end by some sort of negotiation,” Cirincione says. “If you project forward several weeks, it’s going to have to end. Usually there’s some sort of arrangement that’s made to end a war.”

But, he says, President Trump “seems to be flying by the seat of his pants and making this up as it goes along,” so “we just don’t know.”

READ MORE: Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

Cirincione warns that “it’s possible that Trump has put us into the worst of all possible worlds. He’s made it impossible for us to have a negotiated solution to this. And we can’t use any military means to solve the problem. So we’re left in this worst of all worlds, which is Iran is holding all the nuclear cards at the end of this war.”

Mother Jones reports that “with his war in Iran, Trump has created a big, possibly catastrophic problem: A half-ton of highly enriched uranium, which can be made bomb-ready, is somewhere…out there—available for use by Iran’s new regime or perhaps not fully secured and susceptible to theft or expropriation.”

So, what are the options?

“The United States either has to conduct some high-risk military maneuver where we would land people from the 82nd Airborne or an Israeli commando unit into the site at Isfahan and try to find the uranium, go down hundreds of meters underground, retrieve the uranium and pull it out or perhaps destroy it on site,” says Cirincione. He calls it “a high risk proposition.”

“What you’re left with is really the only other solution where we started: a negotiated deal.”

President Barack Obama signed one with Iran. Trump tore it up during his first term.

With a negotiated deal, “You have to get Iran’s agreement to secure that material, declare it, allow inspectors, and then either secure it under inspection or downblend it—the process in reverse, bring it down to a 3-percent or 4-percent level. That’s the only two solutions to this problem.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

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Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

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14 hours ago

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March 12, 2026

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President Donald Trump says not only does he not know if his war against Iran will help win him the Nobel Peace Prize, he also doesn’t care, and doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Trump claimed to have ‘no idea’ if Operation Epic Fury will ‘get him over the finish line’ with committee members,'” the Washington Examiner reported on Thursday, after a telephone call with the president.

“I don’t know,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not interested in it.”

“No, I don’t talk about the Nobel Prize,” Trump also said, when asked if the topic came up in his recent talks with foreign leaders.

The Examiner’s Christian Datoc, who spoke to the president, reported via video that Trump “appears to be having a massive about-face about winning the Nobel Peace Prize amid his war with Iran.”

“He told me over the phone that he’s not sure if he’s deserving of this award anymore,” Datoc added. “This is a massive change in the president’s rhetoric from really anything he’s said over the past thirteen months.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

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