Newly out Katherine Patrick and her father, Governor Deval Patrick, made quite an impression during Saturday's gay pride in 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.
…
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.

Shoot! They couldn't bring out the ladies for Katherine? She needs to practice her game before heading off to college this fall!

[Image via Towleroad]

Big gay news, boys and girls! Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's daughter, Katherine Patrick has come out of the closet.

And, like a good little inspiration, went to the press with her story, including a bit about celebrating an anti-gay amendment's defeat with her father.

As they cheered the defeat of the amendment… Katherine had never before felt more proud of her father.

"Because, of course, he didn’t know that I was gay then," the 18-year-old recalls. "So, for someone so publicly to fight for something that doesn’t even affect him was just like, ’That’s my dad,’ you know?" she says with a laugh. "That’s all I could think. I was very, very proud to be part of this family, and this state in general."

"It was great. I’m very glad," she adds, looking at her father. "Don’t cry, Dad." Patrick’s eyes are brimming with tears, prompting some good-natured teasing from his daughter. "He’s done some good things," she says with a laugh, patting his arm. "I appreciate it. Want a tissue? Oh, God. He’s a crier."

If that doesn't warm your heart, nothing will.

And, for those of you who are curious, Patrick's headed to ladies-only Smith College next fall. Smart cookie, huh?

[Photo by Marilyn Humphries.]

Massachusetts Corrections Commissioner Harold Clarke sure is rude. And makes things too complicated.

Why do we say such things about Clarke? Well, denied inmate Michelle Kosilek's sex change operation, and insulted the worlds

Kosilek, born Robert, has been living as a woman for fifteen years, but began taking hormones in 2006. (Here you see she obviously has a womanly air about her.)

Kosilek is currently in prison because he strangled his wife with a wire in 1990 and dumped her body at a local mall, which is definitely not normal. The crime garnered then-him a life sentence with no parole. She has since tried twice to commit suicide and to castrate herself.

A court ruled in 2002 that the prison, which would have to use state funds for the surgery, is violating Kosilek's rights by denying a surgery. Now, rather than giving the green light, Clark's making up excuses.

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Remember Benoit Denizet-Lewis' lengthy exploration of young gay marrieds in Sunday's New York Times?

Well, the journalist got flack for only profiling white, middle-class, educated men, which led some to wonder whether he simply chose to ignore people of color.

Tired of whispers and murmurs, Denizet-Lewis sent out an email earlier this afternoon and tried to clear things up.

He's not a racist, you see, but simply couldn't find any black people! In fact, there aren't many black marrieds to be found, he says - after the jump, of course.

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Massachusetts may recognize gay marriage, but that means absolutely nothing to the State Department:

As an AIDS counselor, Jason Hair-Wynn wants to bring his expertise to Africa, a continent that has been ravaged by the disease.

But when the Attleboro resident recently applied for a new passport so he could go to Africa, he learned the U.S. State Department would not recognize his new hyphenated name because he is a gay man married to another man.

He said the State Department said it was prohibited from recognizing his new name by the Defense of Marriage Act.

"We are unable to comply with your request for a name change based on the documentation you sent because of the Defense of Marriage Act …," the letter states.

The missive goes on to remind Hair-Wynn that federal agencies define marriage as between "one man and one woman". God, isn't federalism wonderful?

Senator Hillary Clinton likes to paint herself as an experienced Washington political warrior, and definitely looked for the same in her staff. That said, National Director of LGBT Outreach Mark Walsh may be the best gay for the campaign's queer needs.

Though a lawyer by training, Walsh has devoted much of his adult life to getting the gay into Washington. He's worked with former Congressman Marty Meehan, who stepped down last year after taking a hard line against Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

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Those damn liberal, gay marriage having Massachusans are at it again! Governor Deval Patrick put his weight behind a trans-inclusive anti-discrimination bill yesterday.

The politico read a personal letter to legislatures in which he tied the current fight to the Bay State's history: "Massachusetts has a rich history of protecting the civil rights of all its citizens… The proposed legislation represents another step forward in achieving fair and equal treatment for all."

Opponents from the Massachusetts Family Institute played on fear to make their case, "Women and children would be put at risk…Nothing would prevent a male sexual predator from pretending that he is confused about his sex to gain access to a woman's bathroom or to join a female-only fitness club." We think it's pretty clear to tell a man who's dressed to literally kill and a woman who happened to be born a man…

It's been four years since Massachusetts legalized same-sex unions. Now, as the bay state's gays enjoy unprecedented freedom, a movement dedicated to democracy closes its doors.

Founded in 1993, the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry worked to achieve true equality in Massachusetts. What began as a small party of pious activists became a Coalition of over 1,000 members.

Activists of all faiths came together to move Massachusetts closer to constitutional equality and Representative Barbara L’Italien credits the Coalition with playing an essential role in the legislative and social battle:

The Religious Coalition For the Freedom To Marry provided a necessary spiritual context to the acknowledgement that all people should be allowed the basic human right to love and commit to another person. The coalition opened their doors in welcome to all and also offered dialogue and support to legislators like myself who were not being supported by their own particular faith community.

It's all about the dialogue, baby!

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Denise Simmons entered the record books today. The Cambridge, Massachusetts city council voted Monday to install Simmons as their mayor, making her the first black lesbian mayor in American history.

City councilors voted Monday night to make Denise Simmons the new mayor of Cambridge.

Simmons, a member of the council since 2001, is the second consecutive mayor who is black and openly gay. She is the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor since Sheila Russell held the office from 1996-1997.

Councilors voted Brian Murphy vice-mayor.

“It feels really great,” Simmons said. “When I first came to the School Committee, one of the things I always said was that I wanted to be mayor.”

Alright, it's great that Simmons won the seat - congratulations! - but we'd be more psyched if she were in Texas or some place. Now that would be incredible. Cambridge city council electing a black lesbian? Not as unbelievable.

Reformed anti-gay activist Stephen Dunne returns to Gayville this week. The law student caught our eye - and ire - last year when he sued the Massachusetts State Bar Association for including a gay marriage question on the would-be lawyer's exam. Dunne refused to answer the question, which cost him the test and then promptly sued for religious discrimination. Dunne later withdrew his case.

Dunne's given the matter much thought over the past few months and wrote to Bay Windows explaining that his lawsuit was "misguided" and he was simply "lashing out". The staffers at Bay Windows were so intrigued by Dunne's turnaround that they dispatched Laura Kiritsy to dig into Dunne. Here's a sample of their exchange:

Q: Did you hear from [your] when you filed the lawsuit?

A: There’s a lot of gay people I know that don’t know what I did. And you know obviously I’m not going to bring it up today because to a large degree I don’t want them to know because I’m embarrassed at what I did. They’re great people, they’re great parents, they’re educated people, they’re professionals. I have a lot of respect for them. Once you become friends with people it’s hard not to respect them, to change your opinion, change your direction of your previously preconceived notions that were incorrect.

Irishman Dunne also says that past discrimination against his ancestors helped bring him back to reality. He's currently studying for the bar exam. We'll done, Dunne!

Assumption College president Francesco Cesareo made an ass of himself earlier this year. The educator killed a gay student group's plan to bring gay veteran Eric Alva as a Veterans Day Speaker.

Cesareo, who joined the College this year, said Alva would be too political and told the students to drop their plot. Faculty cried foul this week, saying Alva didn't need a contract and admonished Cesareo's closed mind. They stop short, however, of actually doing anything about it:

Assumption College faculty members, by a vote of 45-33 this week, charged President Francesco Cesareo and his cabinet with violating policy when they refused to host a gay activist veteran as a Veterans Day speaker, but the faculty also voted not to pursue the issue.

That's teaching the children well…

Somerville, Massachusetts Police have some explaining to do. A lesbian named Lisa Daloia says that she and her friends were taunted and attacked at a Dunkin Donuts earlier this year. When police arrived, she says, they failed to give the Daloia and company proper medical treatment, instead fawning over one of the suspects, also a female. The police did not call the incident a hate crime, despite the fact that the assailants spouted anti-gay epithets.

Weeks after the incident, anti-violence activist Don Gorton sent the police chief a letter demanding action. Five days later, the mayor spoke out and, not surprisingly, so did the cops:

…Mayor Joseph Curtatone and state Representative Carl Sciortino met with Daloia and Gorton. "The mayor expressed forcefully that hate crimes were not acceptable in Somerville," Gorton said. Curtatone declined to comment on matters being probed.

In a statement, Sciortino condemned gay-bashing and said he expects "both the incident and how it was handled by the police to be thoroughly investigated."

According to [Police flack Paul] Upton, "as soon as the chief of police became aware of this allegation, he ordered simultaneous investigations" to determine whether the incident was a hate crime and whether the police acted appropriately.

Nothing gets a cop moving like an irate mayor.

Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston remain unhappily married. Rhode Island's Supreme Court ruled 3-2 today not to dissolve the couples 2004 marriage:

[The Court] said the state’s family court lacks the authority to grant the divorce of a same-sex couple.

Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers wed in Massachusetts in 2004 after that state became the first to legalize same-sex marriages. The couple filed for divorce last year in Rhode Island, where they both live.

Perhaps the ladies should consider moving to Massachusetts for a few months.