Add field to posts (checkbox) that only one post can have

I am trying to add a field to WordPress posts (not pages) which would simply include a label and a checkbox. Something like: Make this the sticky post? If check, the key should be set to TRUE or something that is easily accessible. The problem is, however, that I only want one post to have possibly the TRUE value. This means, when I have checked the field in post-1, and afterwards I check that field in post-2, post-1’s field value should be set to FALSE so that only one post can have TRUE at the same time.

Can serialized arrays in DB be matched against serialized arrays with meta_query?

Say I have an array of checkbox choices associated with a post (a custom field) stored in the database in serialized form. On my site, I present users with the same checkboxes and let them make their choices to “filter” out posts according to their choices. If as little as one of their choices matches a posts choices, that post should be displayed.

HTML code in Custom field

I’m using a custom field to display images in a slider on each post, but when I update the post after having entered the HTML code in the custom field, the code disappears. I’m assuming that there is some kind of filter that removes HTML code from custom fields when a post is saved. Is there a way to circumvent that without using a plugin?