Gay is dangerous in Romania -- those few who are out of the closet must face every sort of harassment from an elbow in the ribs to raids by gangs of thugs with little hope of protection from police. The country's laws on homosexuality, long the toughest on the continent, have changed little since the overthrow of the communist regime in 1989. Despite pressure from other European states, a report from the capital shows that the issue has become a major focus of controversy, with the Orthodox church coming forward to take a political stand for the first time since the events of 1989. PNS correspondent Paul Hockenos is a freelance writer based in Berlin who has been writing on East and West Europe for the last decade.

BUCHAREST -- "You have to be careful everywhere you go, all the time," says Alexandru, "It's dangerous to be gay here in Romania."

Alexandru, who is 24 and a waiter, wears eye shadow. That's enough to get at least a sharp elbow in the ribs when he walks the streets of Bucharest. And homophobic thugs regularly launch late-night raids on the city's few gay meeting spots. Police provide little or no protection, as the laws opposing homosexuality are still the toughest in Europe, despite major changes in the country's government and pressure from neighboring states.

"Most gay people here live in the closet," says Bogdan, a university student who is himself gay. "Life for gay people is very difficult here, especially in small towns or in the country."

The move from totalitarian communism to democracy has not made much difference to the gay community. Under the hard-line dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, same-sex relations -- even in private between consenting adults -- were punishable by up to five years in prison. Hundreds of men served time.

But even after the 1989 revolution, which deposed Ceausescu, the law stayed in force and gay people were spied upon, harassed, and arrested, many of them reportedly subjected to police brutality. Then in 1994, the Council of Europe made membership -- which Romania very much wants -- conditional upon a repeal of the ban.

Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Cyprus struck down similar laws so they could join, but it was not until last year that the Romanian parliament -- after an emotional debate -- made some grudging revisions. It scrapped the blanket ban on homosexual relations, but at the same time, expanded other sections of the law.

These changes passed over the bitter objections of nationalist forces, led by the Romanian Orthodox Church, but human rights advocates say the new law is worse than the old one. "The amended version meets the Council of Europe's conditions," says Ion Iacos of the Romanian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, "but it's so vague it's worse than the old one. I'm afraid there will be even more violations than before."

During the debate over the law, the Romanian Orthodox Church took a political stand for the first time since 1989. It had maintained a conspicuous silence because of its close collaboration with the Ceausescu regime.

The church leadership says flatly that homosexuality is a sin, and must be corrected or punished. "Holy Scripture says it's a sin," says Sorin Zahin, of the Christian-Orthodox-Romanian Students Union. "If homosexuals are free, in time they will also ask for the right to become a recognized minority and form clubs and associations, and then for the right to make families and take care of babies. That will damage our society."

New additions to the law mandate penalties for "enticing or seducing a person to same-sex acts" and for "propaganda, associations, or other forms of proselytizing" for such a purpose, and when homosexual relations cause a "public scandal."

But the law does not define terms like "public scandal" or "enticing," and this leaves the matter open to interpretation by the country's police and prosecutors -- who are known for their intolerance. Amnesty International has declared that the revised law in fact represents no change at all.

"The new restrictions ensure there will be no gay organizations, no associations, no bars, no demonstrations, no theater performances, no nothing," says Iacos.

Nor can Romania's gays hope for much from the new democratic-led government which recently unseated the ex-communist party after seven years in office. Many of the democrats, including president Emil Constantinescu, are close to the Orthodox Church and more anti-gay than the ex-communists. Still, there are some in the gay community who are ready to defy the authorities.. A year ago they formed "Accept" to provide a forum for gays and organize for gay rights.

"The problem is not just the laws," says Bogdan, one of the group's founders, "it's the way the whole society thinks about homosexuality. And that won't change in the near future."