NOT THAT voters nationwide are ready to send any sort of lavender coalition to Washington. Indeed, Frank is one of just three openly gay or lesbian members of Congress (the others are Republican Jim Kolbe of Arizona and Democrat Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin). There are no openly gay senators. And according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a political-action committee that donated money to Jacques’s campaign, there are only slightly more than 200 openly gay or lesbian elected officials nationwide, right down to the level of municipal sewer commissioner.

Even in Massachusetts, the specter of homophobia looms. A right-wing organization known as Marriage Matters is hoping to put a constitutional amendment on the 2004 ballot that would prevent same-sex marriage from being recognized (thus short-circuiting a Vermont-style lawsuit being pursued by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders) and that would make it more difficult even for domestic-partnership benefits to be granted. As Jacques attempts to reorient her political career, she must do so in an uncertain social and cultural environment.

Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, says the positive image that Jacques and Chrisler project can cut two ways: it could undermine support for the ballot measure, yet the homophobic forces unleashed by debate over the measure could also set back Jacques’s ambitions. " It helps people to better understand the everyday, normal, typical, average aspects of our lives, " Isaacson says of Jacques and Chrisler’s public partnership. " There’s great power in that nonverbal message. " Still, Isaacson worries that the ballot measure stands " a very good chance of passing. "

State Representative Liz Malia of Jamaica Plain doesn’t play down the threat posed by the ballot question. Yet she finds it hopeful that all the major Ninth District Democratic candidates took gay-friendly stands, with even Stephen Lynch, a social conservative, coming out in favor of a reasonably progressive civil-union proposal. Malia, a long-time political activist (she and her partner, Rita Kantarowski, have been members of the Ward 11 Democratic Committee since the 1980s), had endorsed State Senator Brian Joyce before Jacques got into the race; Malia had already told Jacques she would support her candidacy for lieutenant governor. But Malia hails Jacques for the way she handled her relationship during the campaign, saying, " That’s one of the things Cheryl has brought forward in a really positive manner, which is completing the picture, putting on a human face. I think it’s a tremendous, positive contribution. "

The days after a devastating loss are, inevitably, difficult ones for a politician. In Jacques’s case, it must be especially painful: if she’d run a better campaign, she might have won, or at least come close enough to enhance her reputation as an up-and-coming star. Now she’s going to have to sit back, reflect on what went wrong, and choose her next battleground — be it re-entering the lieutenant governor’s race or just holding on to her state-senate seat.

One thing she can be proud of, though, is her decision to make Jennifer Chrisler a visible part of her campaign. " Jen and I are going to live our lives as we do, which is a very normal, very routine life, " Jacques says. " It is what it is. "

Even though it shouldn’t be, that remains a radical message. Jacques — and Chrisler — showed courage by delivering it as forthrightly as they did.

Dan Kennedy can be reached at dkennedy[a]phx.com