Hickey regrets wording, but not message of controversial post
Facing both praise and backlash for a Facebook post in which he called on medical doctors to condemn gay sex, state legislator Steve Hickey said Monday he regrets the wording but not the sentiment of his controversial comments.
Hickey, a Sioux Falls pastor and an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, appeared on the Argus Leader's online video talk show, "100 Eyes," on Monday to discuss his views.
"I get myself in trouble with my analogies, and I'm aware of that," Hickey said on the show. "I could have spent more time to be more precise."
But Hickey doubled down on his core assertion: that it is "self-evident" that homosexuality is a "deviation" from "biology and nature."
Despite condemning anal sex as unnatural, though, Hickey said he doesn't support making it illegal in an anti-sodomy law.
"I don't support any of that," Hickey said. "It's a waste of our time."
Ten U.S. states have laws banning certain sexual acts, though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such sodomy bans to be unconstitutional in the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas. South Dakota's legislature repealed the state's sodomy ban in 1977.
Hickey said he opposed same-sex couples adopting children. Individuals in South Dakota can adopt children regardless of their sexual orientation, while the law is unclear about whether same-sex couples – whose marriages aren't recognized under South Dakota's constitution – can do so.
"I don't see that as a good environment for kids," Hickey said. "Granted, it's better than nothing."
In a conversation with Argus Leader managing editor Patrick Lalley, though, Hickey conceded that some same-sex couples can be better parents than some opposite-sex couples.
"Would you admit there are gay couples who are perfectly fine parents?" Lalley asked.
"Yeah," Hickey said.
Hickey rejected Lalley's suggestion that some gay people felt "demonized" by Hickey's word choice.
"Don't they see what they're calling me?" Hickey said, saying he's received angry and profane phone calls since making his post. "Who's demonizing who?"
But Hickey said critics – or at least those who live in South Dakota's ninth legislative district, which he represents – have a solution if they don't like his views.
"If people don't like what they're seeing, vote me out," he said.
Visit argusleader.com to view a replay of Hickey's appearance on "100 Eyes."