More than a dozen gay rights and women’s groups yesterday lashed out at former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) over his questioning of DPP presidential contender Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 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 ---(蔡宛芬) 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.”