America’s Most Captivating Couples 2007
Daria “Deno” Orechwa
27, Graduate Student/Youth Services Counselor
Ingrid “Inno” Dahl
26, Rock Musician/Editor/GO Writer/Founding Member of the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls
San Francisco, CA & Jersey City, NJ
Deno and Inno met at Rutgers University in (year). Today, Deno is a graduate student at San Francisco State, and assists queer teens at the Huckleberry House shelter. Her goal is to open a queer community center someday with its own thrift store. At the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, Inno also works with teens—managing their bands and teaching them to play different instruments. In addition, she’s a writer for GO and plays in the groups Boyskout, The 303s, and Lismore. This couple, who say they “like to make out and lay on each other everywhere we go,” are currently in a long-distance relationship. What keeps it on track? “Teamwork; consideration; independence; admiration; text messages; imaginary scenarios; missing one another; extreme cuteness; generosity; and phenomenal sex.”
It was difficult to narrow down the entries, but we finally did it–and the result is the year’s most captivating couples! Ranging from a historic preservationist to a superhero to a TV talk show host (times two), it’s great to see so many proud women, not just in love, but spreading that love around and making the world a brighter place. Their stories inspired us, and we know they’ll inspire you, too. Say hello to this year’s sweethearts.
TRINA & EMILY
Trina Rose
21, Semiotics Student/Go-Go Dancer for Unisex Salon at the Delancey/Multimedia Artist/Filmmaker/Performer
Emily Cain
20, Film Student/Photographer/Costume Designer
Brooklyn, NY & New York, NY
One day in 2005, Trina was running late to the set of Shortbus, clad in a red beaded dress with feathers. Costume designer Emily, who lived in the same building as Trina, noticed Trina outside and stopped her to find out “who she was, where she was heading and where on earth did she get that fabulous dress!” Shortly afterward, Emily made Trina the primary subject of lots of her photography and faster than you can say “darkroom” their relationship was developing. Today they create clothes together so they can “use our bodies as mediums in our socially-conscious art project to challenge misogyny and re-conceptualize the relationship between sex, gender and the cultural definitions of beauty.” They add, “We are both feminists who work to challenge sexism, ableism, heightism and other oppressive systems through our artwork and other modes of representation. Our creativity is the glue that holds us together.”
