Religious hard-liners in Moldova's capital tried to crash a rally in support of the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community but were fended off by police who deployed tear gas.



The Orthodox Christian protesters unsuccessfully attempted to break through a police line set up to guard dozens off demonstrators who marched through Chisinau in the May 19 rally against homophobia.



Video footage from the scene showed Orthodox activists rinsing their eyes with water after apparently being repelled by police.

Participants in the march were guarded by police escorts after a similar rally last year was halted by police to avert a confrontation with religious counterprotesters.



At last year's march, scores of participants were evacuated in buses by police after eggs and water were thrown at them by those attending the rival protest.



More than 20 Western embassies in Moldova -- including those of the United States and numerous EU members -- issued a statement of support for this year's march two days prior to the event.



"As the values of tolerance and respect for diversity are fundamental to open democratic societies, we recognize the right of LGBTI-persons and their supporters to conduct the Solidarity March...peacefully," the embassies said in a letter released by the rally's organizers.

The Moldovan branch of Amnesty International last year accused President Igor Dodon of violating the country's constitution by saying that he was not the president of Moldovan gays.



"I have never promised to be the president of the gays, they should have elected their own president," Dodon told reporters the same day as last year's rally that police cut short.



Dodon had criticized last year's march before it was held, saying it promoted "actions [that] contradict our traditional values."



Dodon said ahead of this year's march that "only normal families" have a place in Moldova.