America’s Most Captivating Couples 2008
Newton, Massachusetts
Jennifer Chrisler, 37, Executive Director, Family Equality Council
Cheryl Jaques, 45, Lawyer, Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten
Jennifer and Cheryl met almost 15 years ago when Jennifer got involved in Cheryl’s campaign for state senate. They were friends for five years before they started dating. As the Executive Director of the Family Equality Council (formerly Family Pride), Jennifer fights for the rights of all loving families, regardless of blood relation or sexual orientation. In addition to being a lawyer, Cheryl is the former head of the Human Rights Campaign. They are the proud parents of two sons, Tom and Tim, age five. “We love spending time with our kids, playing checkers, go fish and Connect Four. For gown-up fun, we love going to estate sales to find treasures, and taking long walks together,” says Jennifer. Their secret: “We try to remember to attack our problems instead of each other. Whenever we face adversity in our lives, we remain focused on what we are trying to solve instead of getting angry with each other about the situation we’re in. It also helps to have a good sense of humor, and to laugh together often.”
The results are in! After a grueling selection process, we’ve skimmed the sweet cream off this year’s batch of entries and whipped it into GO’s most captivating couples of 2008. Many more couples coming soon!
Mimi & Shanti
New York, New York
Mimi Ferraro, 31, Lead Singer of The ReFormationists, Actress
Shanti Prasad, 34, Graduate Student, Actress
In the summer of 2001, Mimi and Shanti were both performing in shows with the same women’s theater company, but they didn’t actually work together. Years later, they glimpsed each other again at an audition. Shanti was too shy to say hello, but Mimi took matters into her own hands. Nowadays, Shanti is earning a graduate degree in Food Culture and Systems at NYU while Mimi goes about the business of “being a lesbian rock star.” They pride themselves on communication and agreeing to disagree. “I am in awe of Mimi’s perseverance, humor and compassion for all life,” Shanti says. Mimi adds, “I am in awe of Shanti’s capacity to love, her loyalty and her hot, hot body.”
