Presidential hopeful and chairperson of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday said she would not answer questions raised by one of her predecessors – ex-DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) – about her sexual orientation.
Tsai, who is widely seen as the frontrunner in a three-way primary for the DPP nomination for the 2012 presidential election, brushed off Shih’s questions saying: “I don't want to answer his question and I most certainly won't do it. If I answer him I will become an accomplice of gender oppression.
"There is nothing wrong with any sexual orientation or marital status, and no one has the right to question others... We need to work harder to defend the human rights of all sexual minority groups," Tsai said in a statement according to the Taipei Times. She is 54 and single.
For the first time, the DPP’s presidential candidate will be determined by a public opinion poll – with no party member vote – at the end of April.
On Thursday, Shih demanded that Tsai declares her sexual orientation. “If Tsai admits she is lesbian like Iceland Prime Minister (Johanna Sigurdardottir) has done, it can boost the morale of closeted gays and make Taiwan a more progressive society.”
He has told the media that he is a supporter of gay rights and was present at the first gay wedding ceremony in Taiwan in 1990, despite his presence being met with great criticism at the time from the DPP. He was quoted as saying in Taiwan's English-language daily The China Post: If someone is not honest about his or her own sexual orientation, how can the public expect him or her to be honest to their country?
Meanwhile, Shih’s remarks have drawn criticism from fellow DPP members as well as gay and women's rights groups.
The Post also quoted former premier Su Tseng-chang and contender vying with Tsai for the DPP's nomination as saying on his Facebook page that he disagreed with Shih's remarks, and stating, “Taiwan should not be like this. Politics should not be like this. I think this is terrible.”
More than a dozen gay rights and women’s groups called a press conference last Friday to slam Shih’s remarks and demanded that he apologise.
Responding to Shih’s insistence that he’s pro-gay-rights, womens rights group Awakening Foundation board director Fan Yun said: “Never force anyone to come out of the closet. If you do, you’re violating their rights.”
Fan and Taiwan Gender Equality Education Association secretary-general Lai Yu-mei further challenged Shih to come up with concrete policy suggestions to promote gay rights if he really cares about the issue, the Taipei Times reported on Saturday.
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.
An editorial in The China Post today titled “The role of sexuality in politics” questioned if the advice of women and gay rights groups urging Tsai to “remain silent” and “ignore” Shih's demands "left something to be desired."
“Privacy aside, is a question on someone's sexuality really so negative and undeserving of a response?” Asked the editorial noting that “there has not been one openly gay politician in Taiwan history.”