Test 2

Please select your preferred language.

請選擇你慣用的語言。

请选择你惯用的语言。

English
中文简体
台灣繁體
香港繁體

登入

记住我

初到 Fridae?

Fridae Mobile

Advertisement
Highlights

More About Us

新闻&特写

« 较新的 | 较旧的 »
27 Apr 2011

Draw a line between the public and the private

Should politicians have to declare their sexual orientation, just as they have to declare their assets? Fan Yun, an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, discusses the issue after an opposition leader and hopeful in Taiwan's 2012 presidential election was asked to clarify her sexual orientation.

Earlier this month, Fridae reported that presidential hopeful and chairperson of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was asked by one of her predecessors – ex-DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) to clarify her sexual orientation. The move is widely perceived to be an attempt to sabotage Tsai who is said to be the frontrunner in a three-way primary for the DPP nomination for the 2012 presidential election. Fan Yun, a board member of the Awakening Foundation and an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, discussed the issue in The Taipei Times on April 22, 2011:

Does a presidential candidate have to reveal their sexual orientation to the public?

Chairperson of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen is widely seen as the frontrunner in a three-way primary for the DPP nomination for the 2012 presidential election against the incumbent president, Ma Ying-jeou.

The question has suddenly become a hot topic in Taiwan. Although women’s groups and gay and lesbian groups were quick to respond after former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) questioned DPP presidential primary contender Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) sexuality, the media’s interest in the subject has not yet been sated. On Friday morning, UFO Radio (飛碟電台) host Tang Hsiang-lung (唐湘龍) devoted 30 minutes of his program to listeners’ calls on the topic of whether Tsai should come out of the closet or else clarify that she is not in fact a lesbian.

Should politicians have to declare their sexual orientation, just as they have to declare their assets? Shih seems to think so, but we really ought to consider what influence or harm someone’s sexual orientation or how faithful they are in their love life might have on how they go about making policy. Although experience tells us that politics is dominated by heterosexual men and that they have a tendency to make public policy decisions that infringe on the rights of minorities, the democratic consensus in most countries, including the US, is that the private lives of public figures should not be a focus of examination and discussion by the public at large.

The questions now being raised about Tsai’s private life are not an isolated phenomenon. In Taiwan, curiosity about public figures’ private lives tends to focus on women.

Female politicians whose lives have been put under a microscope include former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) former interpreter Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), former Hsinchu City Bureau of Cultural Affairs director Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳) and independent legislator May Chin (高金素梅). These and many other examples illustrate how the private lives of women politicians, especially unmarried ones, are so often picked over by the media and public.

Even when the woman in question refuses to be drawn by rumors, incessant reporting and discussion in the media detract from her right to freely participate in politics. In addition to still being a minority in the world of politics, the professional image and hard work of these women are overlooked, putting them on an unequal footing with male colleagues.

Taiwanese society has not yet grasped the proper standards and limits of public discussion, and the media have yet to learn where to draw the line between what is public and what should remain private. Think about it. If someone in your workplace asked questions about your sexual orientation in front of everyone, no matter whether you are gay or straight and whether or not you admit to whatever that person implies, your career prospects and indeed your space for social interaction may well suffer as a result, given that our society is still full of prejudice against homosexuality in both language and culture.

If that is true in the workplace, then it is even more so in the heat of elections, when the power to govern the country is at stake.

An enlightened society needs to continue learning and evolving its standards of conduct. Any media outlet that aspires to be considered of good quality should desist from reporting speculation about politicians’ private lives, and all worthy citizens should refrain from spreading stories about other people’s love lives and private affairs, except when the people concerned divulge the information of their own accord.

Fan Yun is a board member of the Awakening Foundation and an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University. The column was first published in The Taipei Times on April 22, 2011 and is republished with permission from the author. 

Taiwan

读者回应

回应#1於於2011-08-13 17:42被作者删除。
2. 2011-04-27 18:54  
I can't say I'm convinced by this public vs private argument. I would be worried if a political leader is unwilling to state if he or she is married, single or in a de facto relationship although such info can be said to pertain to a person's private life. Is sexual orientation considered more private that marital status?
回应#3於於2011-08-13 17:42被作者删除。
4. 2011-04-27 20:27  
This must be extremely frustrating for Tsai Ing-Wen when at a critical time for getting her policies out, there is all this public speculation over her sexuality.
Makes one feel that she should come clean one way or the other and maybe they'd shut up, and the focus would be shifted. She must have her opponents running a bit scared over policy if they want to mischief-make over something unrelated to the running of the country.
It is understandable to want a certain degree of privacy in all our lives and in this case what is a very public role. An individuals choice should be respected.
If we trust people in positions of power or profession, their sexuality should be of no consequence.

question to 'Kellen'#2: I am curious to why you would be worried if a political leader was unwilling to state their marital status. ? :)
修改於2011-04-27 20:46:56
5. 2011-04-28 00:06  
Jupiter, I think largely because information such as marital status, number of children (if any), religion (if any), ethnicity, education and family background, etc tells me something about my elected leader as a person. (I'm also generally interested to know these things about my coworkers.) If an elected leader or candidate insists on keeping any of those things secret, it comes across as having skeletons in the closet. Or perhaps it's because we (society) already expect them to be forthcoming with such information. However the sexual orientation issue is still 'new' and it's not clear if society considers S.O. something that should be disclosed.
6. 2011-04-28 07:18  
'Kellen' thanks for that! :) I see your point.
7. 2011-04-28 08:02  
I would rather stand as myself or not at all.

But authenticity is rare in politicians and trolls.
8. 2011-04-28 08:23  
The Minister for Equality in the British Cabinet under Blair was outed by the press as a member of the secretive Catholic organisation Opus Dei. Conflict of interest as she was pushing for exemptions to equality!

9. 2011-04-28 15:50  
Busy bodies...they're everywhere aren't they?
When it's their turn to declare themselves, that's when you will hear the howling and defensiveness....
10. 2011-04-29 00:07  
Politician is a public icon, ppl believe in you, put faiths in you, nothing wrong public wants to know more, concern, understand their icon as a whole.
With regards to personal life, politician his/herself must know the balance point. All these rumours raise prove Sexual Orientation still a controversy issue. That's it.
11. 2011-04-29 22:26  
but i do wonder- is she straight or anything?

请先登入再使用此功能。

Social


This article was recently read by

请选择新闻及专栏版本

精选个人档案

Now ALL members can view unlimited profiles!

Languages

View this page in a different language:

赞好

合作伙伴

 ILGA Asia - Fridae partner for LGBT rights in Asia IGLHRC - Fridae Partner for LGBT rights in Asia

Advertisement