Jewish lesbian city council candidate speaks at U.

Evelyn Kotch, an openly lesbian candidate for city council, addressed a small group of curious students and city residents at the Annenberg School Thursday night. "I'm Jewish, I'm lesbian, I'm Republican, and I'm not an oxymoron," Kotch said in the opening of her address. Kotch is the leader of Philadelphia's Log Cabin Club, a national organization of gay "concerned Republicans." She is running for city council as an independent candidate. The audience listened attentively as Kotch peppered her speech with a mixture of information about the Log Cabin Club's activities and plugs for her city council campaign. "I am for the working poor," Kotch asserted repeatedly while stating her positions on welfare and crime. Audience response to her campaign seemed to be split between disbelieving comments about being a gay Republican and questions about major campaign issues, such as crime and welfare. In her answers, Koch attacked the Democratic party for its inaction on gay issues and economic policies. In the past, she said, all minorities supported the Democratic party. "What have we gotten from [them]? Promises and rhetoric," she said, explaining why many have switched their support to the Republicans. The Log Cabin Club has met with Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Koch said, adding that a large part of her job is educating politicians. Santorum is "a young man," she said of the 35-year-old Republican. "He's listening, and he hears us." Koch also talked about her 27 years as an openly lesbian school principal in Trenton, N.J. She said she would not be able to hold the same position in Philadelphia. "Considering the Republican party's actions in the last few years, it's interesting that any gay person could support them," said Philip Tromovitch, a graduate student studying Human Sexuality Education. "I'm just here to find out what they're thinking," he said.