To say that Steve Hickey is repulsed by anal sex is to say that South Dakota winters are a bit cold.
But the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based pastor and member of the state’s House of Representatives managed to outdo himself on Monday, when he continued his crusade against “gay sex” during an online video chat with the Argus Leader newspaper.
Hickey drew tons of attention last week when he wrote a letter calling on the medical community to sound the alarm about the dangers of anal sex. Later, Dr. Kevin Weiland, who has run for Congress as a Democrat, responded with a letter of his own in the Argus Leader, calling Hickey’s words “not only hurtful but entirely wrong.”
During his video chat on Monday, Hickey argued that Weiland was missing what he’s described as a “self-evident” concern.
“And here’s what I’d like to ask Dr. Weiland. Do you tell your patients to wash their hands before they eat? Why? Because you touch a doorknob and you don’t want to get it inside your body. I hesitate to get crude again, but Dr. Weiland, is it OK for, you know, eight of your friends that you’re in love with to take a dump in your bed and then you can sleep in it all year long?”
The observation prompted Argus Leader managing editor Patrick Lalley to admonish Hickey for being “crude.”
It’s clear Hickey believes that’s the only way to get his point across, as evidenced by the much-publicized letter he wrote. It was written in response to a likely legal challenge to the state’s 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 at the time.
The Argus Leader turned down the letter, but Hickey’s “garbage truck” analogy became an object of national ridicule. Comedian John Oliver’s new fake news show on HBO, “Last Week Tonight,” pushed the hashtag #AnalHickey on Twitter.
Hickey told TPM last week that he was “a little sore” with all the angry feedback he received and insisted he just wanted to help those with “genetic breakdowns” like homosexuality.
Watch Hickey’s interview. His crude comment comes at about the 21:20 mark.
