Bucharest’s coppers stood up for queers this weekend when they arrested scores of anti-gay activists. About 500 gays gathered in the Romanian city to parade their pride. Religious and social conservatives also came out. Brandish banners declaring, “Romania is not Sodom,” protesters threw sticks, stones and slander at the lavender set.

Sydney Morning Herald offers the gruesome details:

Police fired tear gas to hold the protesters at bay after hundreds threw stones and attempted to break through protective cordons manned by 700 officers.

Gays are viewed with hostility by much of the public as many people in the country of 22 million largely accept the powerful Orthodox church’s view of homosexuality as a sin and a disease.

Certainly the anti-gay activity sullied the festivities, it’s refreshing to know the relatively conservative government’s standing up against the haters, including the Romanian Orthodox Church. Pride organizer Florin Buhuceanu praised the police action:

We regret that our opponents use violence…Police only did their job to protect an authorized march. It is our right to express our beliefs and we will not renounce in the face of violence.

That’s right, girl! Also, we totally respect your restraint. If we were you, we’d be outside the jail house taunting our taunters.