Lynette Molnar
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Women Pucker Up To Set World Kissing Record

Provincetown - (September 30, 2004) Massachusetts, the state that became the first in the Union to end discrimination by allowing same-sex marriage, is set to make history again. Women planning to attend the 20th Annual Women's Week in Provincetown, Massachusetts are limbering up their lips for a mass kissing session that will set the first Guinness World Record for number of women kissing at once.

Girl Power Events and The Women Innkeepers of Provincetown are inviting women to smooch simultaneously for 12 seconds as the Provincetown Town Hall clock chimes high noon on Saturday, October 16th, 2004. Women will begin gathering in front of Town Hall at 11:30AM for the noon kiss. This landmark event, the first of its kind, will be followed by a group commitment ceremony inside Town Hall.

The Kiss-In is the brainchild of Provincetown event organizer and innkeeper Lynette Molnar who has had her mind set on establishing this record for some time. "Provincetown has long been a town of firsts for the gay and lesbian community, so it is only appropriate that the record be established here on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of Women's Week," Molnar, the event's spokesperson. Molnar planned the Kiss-In to mark the special Anniversary of Women's Week, an annual gathering of lesbians that started as a short weekend 20 years ago with 250 attendees and has grown into a 10 day event that attracts thousands of women from across the country and around the world.

Lesbian residents of Provincetown who have recently married will boost the attempt on the world record by leading the Kiss-In. Since May 17th thousands of couples in cities and towns across Massachusetts have legally married. However, Governor Mitt Romney is attempting to enforce the 1913 "Reverse Evasion" law denying marriage licenses to out-of-state couples. Provincetown is lead plaintiff in a 12-town suit seeking to overturn the 1913 statute under which the Commonwealth is seeking to deny issuance of marriage licenses to out-of-state same-sex couples not intending to reside in Massachusetts.

After the Kiss-In, those not residing, or intending to reside in Massachusetts, are invited to participate in a group Commitment Ceremony in Town Hall. "Marriage rights are civil rights," said Molnar. "And the joys of a public wedding as a chance to honor significant relationships is as important to lesbians as they are to any heterosexual couple. On October 16th, we will offer our respect and validation to hundreds of women, acknowledging the tremendous bonds of love and commitment they share."