Boehner also urges colleagues to be 'more sensitive' when running against women. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Boehner: Support gay candidates

Speaker John Boehner said his party should support gay Republican congressional candidates and urged his colleagues to “be a little more sensitive” when running against women.

“Some of our members just aren’t as sensitive as they ought to be,” Boehner said.


When asked if he thinks his party should support gay candidates, Boehner simply said: “I do.”

( Also on POLITICO: GOP rep.: Deny money to gay candidates)

The answers were in response to two POLITICO stories, one that said Republicans were working on strategy to run against women candidates and another that reported Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) was urging the National Republican Congressional Committee to withhold money from gay candidates.

Boehner (R-Ohio) said bluntly that “when you look around the Congress, there are a lot more females in the Democrat Caucus than there are in the Republican caucus.”

( Also on POLITICO: GOP men told how to talk to women)