Two gay men have been charged with “lewd conduct” for kissing in Rome, Italy.
The pair, pictured left as the kiss took place, were rushed into a police car and taken to a police station where they were held for several hours.
A tourist who reported the incident, which took place at the Vatican City, said that she saw the men, pictured left, ‘putting their lips on each others hands in a lewd manner, and then they moved on to the cheek. I wasn’t sure where it was headed after that but I was not taking any chances’
The tourist, Francine Lung, 57 from Arkansas, said she then heard one man point to a third man and ask, ‘Have you ever gotten close enough to kiss his ring?’ at which point she called the police over and ‘insisted on an arrest taking place.’
‘They were all wearing what looked like frocks,” said Mrs Lung, a bus conductor, ‘I wondered to myself if I had not accidentally wandered myself into one of them there Gay Pride marches, there was so much pink and fur and sparkles.’
Eventually the men were issued a summons to appear in court and released.
If convicted the two men could be sentenced up to two years in prison.
