The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

Clayton Pettet (pictured), a 19-year-old student at the prestigious Central Saint Martins art school in London, plans to lose his virginity in front of a group of 50-100 spectators as part of an art project.

According to multiple reports, Pettet and a friend will engage in safe anal intercourse until completion on January 25, 2014 in a gallery in the London borough of Hackney. Afterwards, the pair will ask the audience for feedback about the encounter. Pettet says the project will be a work of performance art and has titled it "Art School Stole My Virginity."

Pettet, who claimed to HuffPost UK that he hasn't yet told his parents about the project, said he intends to challenge traditional views on sexuality and virginity:

"The key thing about performance art is that it should only be performed once, and this is the ultimate once-in-a-lifetime performance.

"I've held on to my virginity for 19 years, and I'm not throwing it away lightly. Basically it's like I am losing the stigma around virginity.

"I want the audience to see if anything has changed between me and my partner.

"Since culturally we do hold quite a lot of value to the idea of virginity I have decided to use mine and the loss of it to create a piece that I think will stimulate interesting debate and questions regarding the subject."

(Note to Clayton: if your parents didn't know about this project before you spoke to the media, they sure know now!)

Some LGBT activists have slammed Pettet's upcoming deflowering, saying that his project cheapens sex and reinforces arguments made by opponents of equality. Rev. Sharon Ferguson of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said,

"I'm not quite sure how that's art. My view is that we believe that all sexuality is a gift from God.

"It's about what you do with it and how we use it is an expression of our love for God.
For my imagining in sex as an art form, I don't think this falls into that category.

"My issue is around is this the right expression of someone's bodily sexuality? As an art project in front of an audience, where is the love, respect and mutuality in that?

"Stunts like this cheapens our own sexual relationships."

What do you think? Does bottoming for the first time in front of a live audience and soliciting their feedback afterwards constitute performance art, or is it just an exercise in narcissism? Would you have ever considered redeeming your v card in such a public way?

h/t: Queerty.
Images via Tumblr.