BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick joined his family to march in Boston's annual gay pride parade Saturday, days after a newspaper article was published in which his youngest daughter revealed she's gay.
Patrick became the first governor in the state's history to march in the parade last year. This year, he arrived late after attending a funeral for a Taunton soldier killed in Iraq and joined his family on Beacon Street, near the end of the route.
He hugged and kissed his wife Diane, daughter Sarah, and oldest daughter Katherine, who revealed she's gay in an interview published Thursday in the Bay Windows newspaper.
Katherine, 18, said she told her parents she was gay last July, a few weeks after lawmakers voted to kill a proposal that could have outlawed gay marriage in the state.
On Saturday, the Patrick family was greeted with boisterous cheers and applause as they marched to the end of the route in City Hall Plaza.
"It's been a nice day," Patrick said after the parade.
The Patricks marched with friends in front of a group from the AIDS Action Committee and behind a float carrying male dancers clad in bikini bottoms.
Thousands lined the parade route, which began in the South End and included all manner of gay pride groups, from car clubs, to softball teams, to union workers. Several spectators expressed their support for Katherine Patrick.
"I think she's represents a generation of us out there, and to see her parents supporting her in such a public way, I think that allows all of our parents the permission to do the same," said Hannah Karpman, 29, of Boston.
Ted Higginson of Berkley said, "I think this is turning the world around. What a breath of fresh air. We need that."
State Rep. Byron Rushing, D-Boston, went out of his way to give Diane Patrick a hug and said he was proud of Katherine Patrick for coming out.
"I don't think that it's a thing that's mandatory, but it's important that she did this for herself and her family," he said.
(Copyright (c) 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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