Captivating Couples 2012
This year, we celebrate couples who have taken the plunge and tied the knot—legally. Hailing from the tri-state area and beyond, measuring the length of their relationships in months as well as decades, they embody what courage, commitment and love are all about.
Ivette & Crystal
Brooklyn, NY
Ivette, 26, queer housewife, designerentrepreneur
Crystal, 24, management consultant, designer-entrepreneur
Ivette and Crystal, a self-described newlywed queer Cuban couple, are like Ozzie and Harriet with a twist. Crystal, a New Jersey native and Columbia grad, and Ivette, a UC Berkeley graduate from Los Angeles, aren’t just joined in matrimony. They also work together designing their two-year-old genderqueer masculine clothing line Marimacho and promoting Azucar!, Brooklyn’s first queer Latin dance party “We are seemingly foils of each other: butch vs. femme, Ivy League vs. public university, East Coast vs. West Coast. But we have been drawn together by a common culture and mutual love for music, art and fashion,” they say. Their home is a hub of social activity even after a long day spent on business. Despite their hectic schedules, Ivette still manages to have dinner on the table every night and Crystal manages to avoid doing the dishes. “Our relationship [is] a queer version of the 1950’s archetype,” they say. “But although we are married, we reject many aspects of heteronormativity—Ivette can kill Crystal at arm wrestling, and Crystal’s OK with that.”
