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.Â
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:
Getting VILE calls at my office for my comments on gay marriage in SD. The FACE of this thing is not two nice Rapid City gay ladies in love. — stevehickey (@stevehickey) May 1, 2014
Image:Â Hickey For State HouseÂ
Hat Tip:Â Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters