Deval’s Daughter Comes Out

We’ve had our differences with the way Gov. Deval Patrick deals with some issues. Like casinos. The timing of his book deal. His inability to effectively handle House Speaker Sal DiMasi back when DiMasi was routinely making the governor look a fool.

But we’ve got to give Patrick credit where it’s due. He handled his daughter Katherine’s coming-out with great aplomb.

The Patricks sat down with Bay Windows to reveal that 18-year-old Katherine Patrick is gay “in the hopes of avoiding a ‘gotcha’ news story” about her orientation. (Cough cough Herald cough.) She talked about when she realized she was gay, and her fears that if she told one parent before the other, they’d think she loved the other less.

“I’ll always remember the first thing my dad did was, [he] wrapped me in a bear hug and said, ’Well, we love you no matter what,’” Katherine recalls.

If only every parent handled the news that well.

We’ve got to say that after ham-handedly failing to control his message during the debate over casinos, we’re happy to see Patrick deftly using the press to his advantage for his daughter’s sake. He went to a publication that would handle the issue well, he did it just days before Boston’s Pride Parade and Festival, and he was open about it.

Well-played, sir.