A Republican member of the South Dakota
House said in a Facebook post that he's opposed to marriage equality
because anal sex “isn't good.”
Rep. Steve Hickey's post, titled A
One Way Alley for the Garbage Truck, is a response to a planned
federal lawsuit to South Dakota's ban on gay marriage.
(Related: South
Dakota AG Marty Jackley says he will defend gay marriage ban.)
“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,” Hickey
wrote.
Hickey also called on the medical
establishment to speak out against gay sex.
“Certainly there are board-certified
doctors in our state who will attest to what seems self-evident to so
many: gay sex is not good for the body or mind. … South Dakota
docs, it's time for you to come out of the closet and give your
professional opinion on this matter like you capably and responsibly
do on all the others. Somehow the message we are presently getting
from the medical community is that eating at McDonalds will kill us
but the gay lifestyle has no side effects. Truth be told it seems
self-evident the list of side effects would read far longer than
anything we hear on a Cialis commercial.”
Speaking to doctors, he added: “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.”
In
a phone interview with Talking Points Memo, Hickey acknowledged
that anal sex is also enjoyed by heterosexual couples. “Absolutely,”
he said, then changed the topic to the “health of homosexuality.”
Hickey, who earlier this year
introduced a
bill that seeks to allow individuals and businesses to discriminate
against gay couples, told TPM that marriage equality is not “in
my top five of legislative priorities.”
Hickey lamented that doctors are being
discouraged from telling the truth about gay – but not straight –
anal intercourse: “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.”
Hickey also submitted his letter to be
published in the Argus Leader.