Living Out Loud with Darian

via loldarian.com affiliate Rod 2.0

Just in time for Pride season is this beautiful picture and front page story at Bay Windows. Katherine Patrick, the 18-year-old daughter of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, publicly comes out as a lesbian.

"As private of an issue as it is, we’ve sort of had to come to terms with the fact that we are a public family and there you give a part of yourself away," Katherine tells the newspaper. "And we also ... wanted people to know that it’s not only something that we accept, but it’s something that we’re very proud of. It’s a great aspect of our lives and there’s nothing about it that is shameful or that we would want to hide."

Katherine Patrick said she had never before felt more proud of her father than in June 2007 when he flexed his political muscle to defeat the anti-gay marriage amendment. "Because, of course, he didn’t know that I was gay then. So, for someone so publicly to fight for something that doesn’t even affect him was just like, ’That’s my dad,’ you know?. That’s all I could think. I was very, very proud to be part of this family, and this state in general."

Deval Patrick, who became the first elected official in the country to win statewide office after having campaigned on support for marriage equality, says he never considered his daughters' sexuality into his advocacy on the issue. "I don’t think we thought about who they loved," he explains. "You know, it’s interesting even just thinking about having this interview. Katherine and Diane and I and her aunt and Sarah were all talking about, you know, would we give an interview to announce one of our kids was straight? It’s just not about the public ... it’s just about making sure that they had the fullness of their personality and their humanity.

Thanks Rod!