Sometimes when two people kiss in public it’s difficult to look away. When two people are kissing to break a Guinness World Record it’s nearly impossible to ignore.
When Matty Daley, senior English major at The College of New Jersey, and Bobby Canciello, sophomore interactive multimedia major, decided to break the record for the world’s longest kiss, they were fueled by a cause: promoting equality for the LGBTQ community. That motivation must have sustained them, because it was one of the few comforts they were afforded during the span of 32.5 hours, the total length of the record-breaking kiss.
The event, which was streamed live online, attracted viewers from around the world. Viewers from Denmark, South Africa and Brazil vocalized their support for the kiss. According to a witness, the online stream attracted over 500,000 viewers.
The two friends locked lips at 11:33 a.m. in the Alumni Grove. They stood toe-to-toe, mouths fastened and arms on one another’s shoulders for support. The pair frequently could be seen doing what looked like a kind of amateur waltz, as they stepped from side-to-side in unison, rotating clockwise in slow circles to ensure blood flow.
The Guinness World Record’s rules for the “World’s Longest Kiss” stipulate that the couple must be standing at all times and cannot be propped together by any aids, the couple must be awake at all times, incontinence pads and diapers cannot be worn, couples cannot leave the venue at any time and, of course, the couples’ lips must always be touching. Guinness also required video evidence and two witnesses present at all times.
The kissers stood under the auspices of a makeshift canopy, but that didn’t stop the heat as temperatures climbed as high as 84 degrees on Sunday afternoon.
When the icepacks that the boys were using to keep each other cool weren’t enough, a key was used to tear Daley’s shirt safely away from his body without ever breaking the kiss.
Throughout the kiss, the boys sipped water and juice through the corners of their mouths to stay hydrated. Canciello said that his research prior to the kiss led him to Naked Juice’s “Berry Veggie Machine” as a good fuel for the project. Daley and Canciello also each ingested approximately 2.5 bottles of 5 Hour Energy shots.
The boys wore headphones for portions of the kiss — Daley said he mostly listened to Lady Gaga while Canciello opted for parts of “The Illiad” and “Great Expectations” on audio.
During the final hours of the kiss, the number of spectators at the College grew rapidly. Students from the College and the local community gathered around the tent waving rainbow colored signs and cheering the names of the kissers to show their support. Passersby made donations for “The Trevor Project,” a national suicide prevention helpline for LGBTQ youth.
The website created for the event by Daley and Canciello explained the significance of the kiss.
“…in an effort of student activism, and in support of equal rights for every individual regardless of sexual orientation or gender, with an event that is sure to show the American community, and the world, that a kiss between two men (and women) can be so simple.”
According to Daley, the idea germinated after the two friends watched an episode of “Rob’s Fantasy Factory” on MTV where Rob Dyrdek breaks the world record for the “World’s Largest Skateboard.”
“I told Bobby, we should break a world record for something that means something,” Daley said.
The previous record, set by Nikola Matovic and Kristina Reinhart in Germany in 2009, was 32 hours and 7 minutes.
The two aren’t romantically involved and Canciello said his boyfriend was supportive of the project.
According to Canciello, the kiss itself was the least difficult part of the marathon.
“Just the love that we believe in was what pushed us. After a while it wasn’t even like ‘I’m kissing a boy’ anymore, it was like, ‘holy shit, my feet really hurt right now,’” he said.
Brandon Barney, sophomore English major, didn’t know the boys beforehand, but decided to get involved because of his interest in the cause.
“I fully support gay rights, gay marriage, just anything that really enhances the LGBT movement,” Barney said.
Barney was on scene for much of the event, answering questions on the live stream and making sure things ran smoothly.
Emily Porcelli, a friend of Daley’s, came from Hamilton and spent the last 16 hours watching the kiss.
“I don’t feel that gender should be big on anything, if you love somebody, love them for who they are, not what they are. It doesn’t really matter what gender they are,” Porcelli said.
After the boys’ lips parted for the first time Daley burst into tears as the two took a bow before the gathered audience. A chair was conjured up from nearby and the two sat down, Canciello first and Daley on his lap.
“About four and a half hours ago I soiled my pants with my own piss … and damn it felt good!” Daley confessed to the crowd. “Advocate love!” he proclaimed.
“All I kept thinking towards the end was I don’t know if I can keep standing but there were thousands of people watching us and I didn’t want to let anyone down, I kept pushing, and I think in the end we realized not just what it meant to everyone else, but what it meant to ourselves. You know that you did so much because one day I want to have a family, I want to have kids of my own, and you can’t do that in the state of New Jersey right now. So you keep pushing to fight for your rights,” Daley said.
The world’s longest kiss, which began at 11:33 a.m. Saturday morning and ended at 8:03 p.m. on Sunday night, lasted a total of 32.5 grueling, lip-locked hours.