Graphic by Gabriel Currie
Brotherly love never felt so good.
“What we have created is a human daisy chain of spiritual and sexual pleasure,” said Judy Powell, the artist behind Hands Across Boston. This project is her boldest piece yet – and the most ambitious fundraiser in New England history.
“The idea for Hands Across Boston came to me in a dream,” she said. “I had a vision of folks helping each other out while standing for something bigger than themselves.”
Bigger, indeed; The train of touchers stretched some 25 miles, from Peabody all the way to Quincy. Though rivers, roads, and families in Greater Boston were divided, participants were brought closer together.
“The emphasis is on the feeling rather than the action,” Powell explained. “Folks are stimulating each other’s genitals, but also each other’s souls.”
Powell is especially proud of the cause that all this nonprofit soul-jerking is going towards.
“We aren’t fundraising for anything in particular,” she said, “and I think that’s sort of beautiful.”
Without a charity to get in the way, participants in Hands Across Boston were able to fully focus on their own pleasure and that of their fellow man. The goal was not to feed starving children or end war, but rather to reach orgasm.
Among the thousands who participated in this groundbreaking project was Tufts University student Connor Maguire ‘26. He was positioned on the border between Medford and Somerville, in Magoun Square.
“Yeah, I mean, I think it was a pretty nice experience,” Maguire said. “I had my girlfriend to the left of me and her best friend to the right. So yeah.”
Thanks to Hands Across Boston, Maguire was able to masturbate his girlfriend while being masturbated by her best friend. He was touched, and so was his life – a testament to how Hands Across Boston united people of all races, backgrounds, and relationship statuses.
“To join the line is to blur all others,” Powell said, “and I think that’s sort of beautiful.”
