You’ve already judged their decision. I believe your words to describe it were: “an attention-grabbing, showboating thing”.
You don’t find keeping a difficult, counter-cultural, decidedly politically-incorrect decision laudible?
No, I asked the guy who’s roommate and his g/f hadn’t kissed did that.
Though I suppose we could say that the fact that these two thought enough of their “purity” to alert the media to it amounts to a bit of showboating.