Gay Street opens in Rome

Gay rights activists welcomed a 325-yard zone in the center of the city — filled with shops and bars — as an area where gays can "feel at ease," after days of heated debate in predominantly Roman Catholic Italy over the kissing incident.

"This will be an area where people can feel at ease, and it is also meant to be a bridge between the citizens and the homosexual community," activist Fabrizio Marrazzo, the Rome leader of Italy's Arcigay gay rights movement, said Friday.