Philly’s Happiest Gay Couples

Seven same-sex Philly couples reveal how they met, what they love about each other and how they make it work.

Christopher Labonte (39) + Joe Sinkus (39)

Labonte is a principal at a healthcare consulting firm, handling marketing and external affairs; Sinkus is the manager of donor relations at the Kimmel Center. They’ve both been involved with the Human Rights Campaign and other charitable causes, like the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. The couple and their two-year-old pug, Saffron, just moved into their new home together in GradHo.

J: “We celebrated 10 years on January 20th when we closed on our new house. We met through a mutual colleague, a friend who worked at the HRC.”

C: “We were actually best friends for a year and half before we got together. It started out with dollar vodkas at the bar. Ten years later, here we are in Philly.”

J: “He’s unflappable. He’s very passionate about a lot of things—everything he does he always approaches with a positive can-do and calm attitude, which is important to me.”

C: “He is like my rock. He can always be counted on. He’s also a no-BS kind of guy. You know where he stands. And he’s never afraid to tell me my outfit looks stupid or doesn’t match.”

J: “We keep each other in check.”

C: “We started out as friends, and I think for us that experience means we’re not afraid to tell each other what we think. It’s a building block. There’s no one who can make me laugh more than Joe.”