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S.D. lawmaker says gay sex is ‘a one way alley for a garbage truck’

S.D. lawmaker says gay sex is ‘a one way alley for a garbage truck’
Steve Hickey
Steve Hickey Chet Brokaw, AP

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A South Dakota Republican state lawmaker is gaining national attention for a Facebook rant in which he compares homosexual sex to “a one way alley for a garbage truck.”

In his post, which he also submitted as a “letter to the editor” to the Argus Leader newspaper, Rep. Steve Hickey (R-Sioux Falls) accused doctors of covering up the negative medical effects of “gay sex.”

Hickey, a pastor at the Church at the Gate in Sioux Falls and who has co-sponsored a number of anti-gay measures in the state House, says “there’s no hate in my letter,” but wants the public to know that homosexuality has been “the downfall of past civilizations.”

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.

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 who says it’s all fine.

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.

[…]

This indeed is a matter of being on the wrong side of history considering that historically, homosexuality has been a notable marker of the downfall of past civilizations, not their rise.

It’s not hate for a physician to speak up about something that is harmful to human health. 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. 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.

Hickey then shifts to the topic of transgender youth, criticizing the South Dakota High School Activities Association, which is considering a policy on transgender students that would allow them to participate in activities according to their identified gender, not necessarily the gender listed on their records.

Letting boys play girl sports is not the starting place to fix the suicide problem or the very real daily struggle these students face dealing with something they have been handed in life. Society is broken and people have broken identities.

Hickey’s letter was prompted, in part, by a South Dakota couple’s plans to challenge the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Before we let lawyers and judges decide this for our state and override the will of the people in the 2006 election, I issue a call to the medical and psychological communities and associations to weigh in publicly and timely on the matter of homosexuality and the human body, psyche and family, particular kids.

In an interview with Talking Points Memo, Hickey acknowledged that heterosexual couples “absolutely” participate in anal sex also, but that he was focused squarely on the “health of homosexuality.”

The South Dakota Democratic Party issued a release condemning Hickey’s column as “hateful” and “reprehensible.”

The Argus Leader declined to publish the letter, saying it did not meet the paper’s “length and language guidelines” for letters to the editor.

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