Two men promote equality by attempting to break world record for longest continuous kiss
UPDATE: We’ve just been informed that the kiss has been postponed to Saturday, September 18th at approximately 10am until 7PM on Sunday.
Matty and Bobby are New Jersey college students and LGBT activists. On Wednesday, August 11th (UPDATE: Saturday, September 18th), they will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record record for the longest continuous kiss.
The current record is held by Nikola Matovic and Kristina Reinhart of Germany managed, who kissed for 32 hours and 7 minutes in 2009.
Equalitopia interviewed Matty and Bobby to get some insight into why and how they plan on breaking the world record.
EQUALITOPIA: So, you’re attempting to break the record for the longest kiss—what made you decide to do this?
BOBBY: We were watching an episode of Fantasy Factory where someone made the world’s largest skateboard, and I commented on what a waste it was to do something that ridiculous and that the only reason the person was able to do it was because he had a lot of money. So Matty came up with the idea of the longest kiss, and then the idea kind of hit us as the longest kiss between two boys to support gay rights.
MATTY: Yeah. Why break a record if it doesn’t mean something? And to us, this means so much.
EQUALITOPIA: You two have been training for the event. Could you tell us a few things you’ve been doing to prepare?
BOBBY: We have been practicing standing in place for hours at a time, and being awake for a prolonged period of time is something we do quite often at college.
MATTY: My personal record for being awake without sleeping is 72 hours. This was back in February when I was at an exhausting convention in Boston for campus activities. So, we know that it’s possible. And like Bobby said, we’re in college, sometimes, like during midterms and finals, neglecting sleep is necessary. Haha. Also, Bobby and I will be practicing the thirty-three hour kiss on our own in two weeks from now, to prepare for the event. We’ve even come up with a set of hand signals for our select stand-by supporters in the event of both foreseen and unforeseen obstacles that may arise during the time period.
EQUALITOPIA: Standing, being awake, not eating, bladder concerns—what part of the 33-hour kiss are you most worried about?
BOBBY: I think staying awake and completely focused on not breaking our lips apart will be the most challenging. But I am also concerned about the ability to stand for such a long duration, my ankles are not exactly the best.
MATTY: Of course, all of these will be worries. And I let it be Bobby’s job to worry and keep me grounded in remembering what it is we’re challenging our bodies to do, besides stay lip-locked for all of this time. Haha. Honestly, I’m most worried about the weather. Hopefully it doesn’t rain, because even though we’ll be under a canopy, I don’t want to catch pneumonia!
EQUALITOPIA: So Bobby is in a relationship, and he’s completely in support of the cause?
BOBBY: Yes, I am in a relationship and my boyfriend supports the cause completely. We all know each other, and we’re very close friends.
MATTY: Bobby’s boyfriend is such a good sport. And he knows this isn’t about him and I kissing; it’s about something much more important. When you really think about it, the kissing part is really only an extra added element to these other obstacles, like a hire wire performance artist wearing a blindfold when crossing a tightrope. So really, we’re attempting to break the World Record for Longest Continuous Standing-Spree without Using the Bathroom with Our Lips Touching. Bobby’s boyfriend understands something else though, that we hope others will see in the cause. Given that Bobby and I are just friends (and we’re not each other’s type, despite how cute Bobby is), this kiss isn’t just about supporting LGBT rights and cementing a place for the LGBT community in an expression of affection honored by the Guinness World Records. This kiss is about fighting hegemonic norms. In deaf culture, beyond the gesticular vocabulary, body language is the primary form of communication. For the hearing population, we limit ourselves in spoken language by the words we use. This kiss isn’t about sexual or romantic expression between two lovers. We’re not required to make-out, use our tongues, or any of that nonsense. It’s all really simple and innocent; it’s a kiss between two men, two friends. Hopefully, others will see this and begin to think that it’s okay to kiss your closest friends Hello and Goodbye, to let them know in other ways that you care and are ready to face the obstacles life throws your way together, when the words refuse to surface in our voices. And afterall, thirty-three hours is a long time to be standing together with our lips touching - I doubt Bobby and I will want to kiss each other for a while after that. Haha. And his boyfriend is Awesome because he understands this :)
EQUALITOPIA: Who’s going to be there? Are you required to have a Guinness World Record representative to witness it?
BOBBY: We’re not required to have a Guinness World Record representative there, but we do need official witnesses, who will serve to gain nothing from participating in this event.
MATTY: Yeah, there is this entire package of evidence we must supply and submit to the Guinness Records committee for approval. But the more the word is spread, the more people that come and support our campaign, the easier this all becomes.
EQUALITOPIA: There was a six-week long approval process? What was required in this process?
MATTY: We had to submit an application to Guinness explaining why we wanted to attempt to break this record, how we were going to achieve in doing so, and so on. Then we had to wait for them to process our application. And then it was another several weeks before we received our approval. Without going through this, we weren’t allowed to talk about attempting to break the record or we could be disqualified. So it was a pretty heft secret between Bobby and I for six weeks, and we couldn’t even move to launching it as a campaign until all was said, done, and given the go-ahead.
EQUALITOPIA: What happens if you don’t break the record? Will you try again?
BOBBY: We hadn’t really talked about it. But, it’s up to Matty. I wouldn’t mind giving it another try.
MATTY: Absolutely! But, I don’t believe in failure. If I have to hold Bobby up for thirty-three hours, pinching his rib cage with one hand to keep him awake, and pressing his head against mine with the other to keep up lip-locked, we’ll do whatever it takes!!
We have discussed it, and we do plan to live-stream the event online now. That information will be up on the website soon.
Follow Matty & Bobby on their official site, Facebook, and Twitter.
This is a developing story. Follow Equalitopia Blog for updates.
(Photo: AJVR Photography)
