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!
Tracee & Linnet
Brooklyn, New York
Co-founders of LAVAA, Inc.
Tracee Brown, Case Manager, Safe Horizon
Linnet Caban-Brown,Case Manager, S.I. Criminal Court
Tracee and Linnet were Internet buddies who found themselves in the right place at the right time during a chance encounter at Cattyshack in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In addition to their jobs as case managers at Safe Horizon and the Staten Island Criminal Court, they are the founders and presidents of Lesbians Against Violence And Aggression. “We have dedicated our lives to raising awareness about domestic violence in our community,” says Linnet. “We work with other organizations to reach out to survivors of domestic violence. We also provide workshops that help people recognize domestic violence in the LGBTQ community.” The couple volunteers with several nonprofit organizations, and they recently held a Survivors’ Caucus at the LGBTQ Domestic Violence Taskforce Conference in NYC. Their advice: “Laugh together, even when times are rough. Be willing to evolve. And every now and then, hibernate from the world—no phones, no computers.”
