Gay retirement complex developers remain hopeful.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Jacqueline Tuchler, 42, founder of Cruisin' Kids Carpool, has spent the latter part of the 1990s coming out.

First she embraced her sexuality with a new domestic partner. Next, the twice-married mother of one shed her suburban confines to seek acceptance for her alternative lifestyle in a more urban Fort Lauderdale neighborhood. Then she began raising money for gay causes.

That's where she met two men last November who would take her all the way out of the proverbial closet: working in a gay business.

"I know winning projects, and this was a home run," said Tuchler, who sold her successful carpool company last year to transportation giant Laidlaw Inc.

So Tuchler, a tall, striking woman whose resume …