Chad Capers and Jordan Taylor Capers, A Law Turned Love Story
- Darian
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
When Chad Capers, 31, entered Mercer University as a first-year law student in 2019, socializing and meeting new people, as he’d done as an undergraduate student, was of no interest to him. Capers says he intended to attend the required classes to earn his juris doctorate and then retreat to the solitude of his home. However, as a Black law student at a predominantly white institution in rural Macon, GA, Capers granted himself permission to break his self-imposed rule to join Mercer’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA)—accelerating his five-year plan—and Capers always has a plan.
So when Jordan Taylor, 30, a second-year Mercer law student and vice president of BLSA, introduced and offered himself as a resource to Capers, the earth tilted on its axis.
There’s playful disagreement between the two about who initiated contact first, but they’re clear that the day their paths crossed in the university library was a pivotal moment that caught them both by surprise.
“I was studying in the library, and I was trying to figure out a way to get us in the same room,” Capers said. “I had just bought a Mac for law school, and I was replacing a previous Mac. I texted him and was like, ‘I’ve never had a Mac before. I don’t know how to set this up,’” Capers said through laughter, reminiscing on the untruth he told to reel Taylor in.
“Can you come help me?”
“Oh, I just got a MacBook for law school, too. I can help you with it,” Taylor remembers telling Capers.
A couple of months later, Taylor spotted Caper’s old MacBook in a closet during a visit to his home.
“You lied!” Taylor said with a grin that read as if he couldn’t be more grateful that Capers did.
“We started chatting in the DMs, then he sent me his number and said I should lock him in,” Taylor recalls.
In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began, Capers and Taylor decided to quarantine together–a decision that ultimately had major implications for the survival or death of romantic relationships globally.
“It started to get to a point where I couldn’t imagine life without him,” Capers said. “I am a five-year-ahead type of planner. So I was already thinking about the timeline of finishing law school and when we could get married. All of this stuff was in my head back in 2020,” he said.
Taylor tells GLAAD that wasn’t all that was in Capers’s head. After spending what felt like 40 days and 40 nights together and immersing themselves in each other’s friend groups, Capers wanted clarity on the status of what felt like a relationship but without an official title.
“I don’t think you should be staying at my house all the time or hanging with my friends, or every time I have an event, I’m inviting you over,” Taylor recalls Caper saying at the time.
“I was like, oh, shit!” Taylor said. “I sat there for a minute, and I said, ‘No, you’re right.’”
Taylor says he’d become accustomed to their dynamic and didn’t want to jeopardize their blossoming relationship based on societal expectations and timelines after only dating for a few months.
“I was just like, yeah, let’s just do it,” Taylor said.
But a looming unresolved question lingered over the couple: Would the stigma attached to bisexuality present an obstacle to the life Taylor was now envisioning with Capers, now that Capers, a proud bisexual man, had swept him off his feet?
The Journey Down The Aisle
“It’s weird as a bisexual, one, to be believed as bisexual,” Capers said. “I still see [troubling reactions] when I say it out loud in mixed company.”
Luckily for Capers, Taylor says he never had any concerns about dating a bisexual man.
“The typical stereotype is that there are two different ways for him to step out. That never crossed my mind,” Taylor said. “ I was just like, yeah, he’s bisexual. And whenever I do divulge what his sexuality is, I never say, he’s gay. I say we’re in a gay relationship, but he’s bisexual. I just never saw it as an issue,” he added.
In 2022, with three years of dating solidifying their relationship, the official end of the pandemic, the completion of law school for both attorneys, and the successful passing of the bar exam, Capers had the green light to move into the next phase of his five-year plan. The couple became Atlanta homeowners in July of that year, and by November, Capers was ready to put a ring on it.
“I was not going to propose unless I passed the bar exam,” Capers said. “Because I could not plan a wedding and study to take the bar exam again at the same time. I bought a ring in August or September, and we didn’t find out the results [of the bar exam] until the end of October.”
Capers tells GLAAD that a pass or fail would determine if the proposal would remain on hold for another nine months. But a trip to Chateau Elan, a luxurious winery and resort in Braselton, GA, about an hour drive north of metro Atlanta, where Capers rented a private villa, signaled the beginning of a relationship upgrade from boyfriends to fiancés.
With only a small suspicion of an imminent proposal, Taylor entered the villa to a trail of red roses that began at the front entrance, weaving through the bedroom, and ultimately to a “MARRY ME” sign surrounded by candles sitting atop a table draped in black cloth outside, with Capers waiting on one knee. An interesting turn of events for two people madly in love who say they never envisioned marriage to another man as a possibility.
“I never really saw myself getting married,” Taylor said, before Capers echoed a similar sentiment.
“It was a journey to get to the idea of marrying a man,” Capers said. “When I would pray as a kid, you know, to try and pray the gay away, I always thought it was a blessing that at least I was bisexual, so I could be with guys for however long and then eventually marry a woman. I don’t know when that idea subsided, but the idea of marrying a man was definitely solidified when I met Jordan, and I don’t think any time before, to be honest.”
After an 18-month engagement, Capers and Taylor returned to the city where they met to exchange vows in an elegant and rustic ceremony at the Macon Terminal Station with 26 of their closest friends in their wedding party, many of whom were former law school classmates, in front of 213 witnesses on April 13, 2024.
Capers in a red double-breasted suit, and Taylor in a custom white Ellis Esquire suit, complete with a train and studded heel boots.
“I like blending masculine and feminine aspects together,” Taylor said. “So I wanted to do something that was out of the box. I knew I wanted to do a suit, but I was like, “Why don’t I do a train or something that can have extra drama with it?”
“I was happy that they found something where he could showcase that with the long braids, the heels, and the long train. It gave the duality that he kind of presents in the world on a daily basis,” Capers said.
A world in which the Capers are recognized as a legally married couple—a status constantly under threat by the current political administration, and remains one U.S.Supreme Court decision away from being overturned.
“Our marriage is the center of our life together, and the idea that anyone would try to take away the dignity and stability it gives us is painful to even consider,” the Capers said.
But for now, the Capers say they are both committed to protecting the recognition that allows them to live out and confidently as a married couple, adding: “Our appreciation for our marriage has been strengthened and for the community that continues to fight to ensure those rights remain secure for us all.”
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