Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s youngest daughter said she was a lesbian, but waited to tell her father until lawmakers voted to kill a proposal to outlaw gay marriage.

Katherine Patrick made her sexual orientation public in an interview with her father in Bay Windows, a weekly Boston newspaper aimed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community.

The 18-year-old who attended St. Andrew's School in Delaware and is planning to attend Smith College in the fall told her parents that she was gay on July 3, 2007, nearly three weeks after the Legislature voted to kill a proposed anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution.

Patrick responded by saying he was proud of his daughter and also said they will take part in the march in Boston's gay pride parade scheduled for Saturday.

"[We] 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," said Katherine Patrick in her interview with Bay Windows.

Katherine described the scene when she told her parents about her sexual orientation. She walked into the kitchen, told them to stop what they were doing, asked her aunt to leave the room and said:

"I’m a lesbian."

Her father gave Katherine a “bear hug” and told her that her parents love her no matter what.
She had already told her friends, her sister, Sarah, and her aunt Lynn Prime. Gov. Patrick said he was a bit frustrated:

"Why the hell did she tell her aunt before she told me?"