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Groups slam Shih Ming-teh for Tsai
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REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY: KMT Legislator Chiu Yi said
Shih had deliberately tried to boost Tsai Ing-wen¡¦s chances of winning the
primary by bringing up the issue of her sexual orientation
By Loa Iok-sin and Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporters
Greater Kaohsiung City Councilor
Chen Chih-chung, son of former president Chen Shui-bian, yesterday holds up a
letter his father wrote him from prison. The letter said the former president
thinks Democratic Progressive Party presidential nominee hopeful Tsai Ing-wen
has a good chance of winning next year¡¦s presidential election.
Photo: CNA
More than a dozen gay rights and women¡¦s
groups yesterday lashed out at former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
chairman Shih Ming-teh (¬I©ú¼w) over his questioning of DPP presidential contender
Tsai Ing-wen¡¦s (½²^¤å) sexual orientation and demanded that he apologize to women.
¡§If, as Shih puts it, the sexual orientation of a presidential candidate is so
important that it would have an impact on the direction of national policy, I¡¦d
like to ask him to elaborate on which gender or sexual orientation is best fit
for a national leader,¡¨ Taiwan Women¡¦s Link -secretary-general Tsai Wan-fen
---(½²©{ªâ) said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday. ¡§If he cannot explain,
he should stop arguing, and apologize to all single women, gays and female
politicians.¡¨
On Thursday, Shih called on Tsai Ing-wen, who is single, to clarify her sexual
orientation, saying voters deserved ¡§a clear answer¡¨ before voting for her.
Both Awakening Foundation board director Fan Yun (S¶³) and Taiwan Gender Equality
Education Association secretary-general Lai Yu-mei (¿à¤Í±ö), on the other hand,
urged Shih to come up with concrete policy suggestions to promote gay rights if
he really cares about the issue.
¡§By the way, if you [Shih] really care about homosexuals, you should learn this
first lesson: Never force anyone to come out of the closet. If you do, you¡¦re
violating their rights,¡¨ Fan said, adding that the public ¡X or individuals ¡X
should pay more attention to the public aspects of politicians¡¦ lives, not the
private.
Other groups taking part in the press conference included the Taiwan Tongzhi
Hotline Association, Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan, the Taiwan LGBT
Pride Community and the Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy Association.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday also joined their DPP
counterparts in blasting Shih.
Shih made no sense when he asked Tsai Ing-wen to disclose her sexual
orientation, KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (ù²QÁ¢) said.
¡§Which law or regulation requires that disclosure? Moreover, it¡¦s a violation of
human rights to inquire into other people¡¦s sexual orientation,¡¨ she said.
¡§There are too many women who have not married. If Shih presumed that [Tsai
Ing-wen is a lesbian] just because she is single, he did Tsai [Ing-wen] a great
favor as that would only arouse women¡¦s sympathy [for Tsai Ing-wen],¡¨ Lo added.
Raising an issue about sexual orientation only showed that Shih was an
¡§ungenerous¡¨ person, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (§d¨|ª@) said.
¡§But if Tsai [Ing-wen] chose to declare her preference, it might not be bad for
her chances [in winning the DPP primary] because that would show that she is
brave, dedicated, candid and honest, which are all favorable traits in the
-country,¡¨ Wu said.
KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (ªô¼Ý) said Shih was in fact aiming to boost Tsai Ing-wen¡¦s
chances of winning the primary.
¡§How could Shih not know that his remarks would incur anger from women
activists, who would then step forward to voice support for Tsai [Ing-wen]?¡¨
Chiu said.
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