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A Nebraska lawmaker is facing calls to resign after he pulled a vulgar stunt on the floor of the state Legislature while trying to make a point against obscenity.
During a debate Monday on Legislature Bill 441, a bill aimed at keeping obscene material out of K-12 schools, Republican state Sen. Steve Halloran read a passage from Alice Sebold's memoir, "Lucky," that depicts a rape scene. For some reason, he also decided to drop his colleague's name into his reading of the excerpt. "I want a blow job, Sen. Cavanaugh," Halloran says at one point.
Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh and John Cavanaugh, who are siblings, both serve in the Nebraska Legislature. It was unclear who Halloran was referring to in his reading; earlier in his remarks, he had invoked both their names.
(Warning: The video below includes explicit language.)
His stunt was widely criticized, and several of his colleagues described it as harassment of a fellow senator.
“That was so out of line and unnecessary and disgusting to say my name over and over again like that,” Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh said later in the Monday session.
“You don’t know anything about anyone else’s life, and I can tell you that women in this body have been subjected to sexual violence,” she added. “I didn’t know you were capable of such cruelty.”
LB 441 would allow school staff or library employees to be prosecuted for providing minors with "obscene materials" as it's currently defined in Nebraska law. The Nebraska Examiner reported that opponents to the bill say it's already illegal under Nebraska law and that school and library staff are not immune from prosecution.
Sebold’s memoir, centered on her rape in college, was among the most banned books in the country in the 2021-2022 school year. (The man convicted in her case was exonerated in 2021 after serving 16 years in prison, and the publisher has halted distribution of “Lucky.”) Monday’s session ended early, shortly after Halloran’s remarks.
Later, Halloran said in an email that the passage was a "‘how to rape’ lesson given to young people" and that his only regret is that “liberals” aren't upset that Sebold's book is in school libraries, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
Replying to a Nebraska resident who said Halloran told her via email that he had been addressing Sen. John Cavanaugh, Machaela Cavanaugh suggested it didn't make a difference. "Whichever one of us this assault was meant for does make it less horrific — though I believe it was directed at me," she wrote on X. "Men can also be victims of assault and his response is dismissive of that fact."
Sen. John Cavanaugh said Halloran's argument "missed the point."
“There are graphic scenes in books and graphic things that happen to people in life,” he said. “Stories have context, and they give meaning to the people who read them and feel alone.”
Halloran did not immediately respond to questions from MSNBC about his remarks.
Halloran's behavior has prompted calls for his resignation. Sen. Megan Hunt, an independent, said the incident was "beyond the pale" and that Halloran should resign. Republican Sen. Julie Slama also called for his resignation.
According to NBC News, Halloran (somewhat) apologized for his remarks on Tuesday morning, saying his apology was only for inserting his colleague's name in his remarks but not for reading the excerpt.
"I have an apology to make, and I’m not going to make an apology to take the load off my shoulders," he said, adding that he called out Cavanaugh to get their attention.
CORRECTION (March 20, 2024, 9:51 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated Sen. Megan Hunt’s party affiliation. She is nonpartisan, not a Democrat.