Hungarian Police Prohibit 2011 Gay Pride Parade; Organizers Contend Decision Politically Motivated

The AFP reports that Hungarian police have prohibited this year’s annual Budapest Gay Pride Parade, the organizers said Monday, suggesting the action is a politically motivated manoeuver. “The Budapest police chief has withdrawn the permission that was granted earlier to the organizers of the 2011 gay pride march,” Sandor Steigler, head of the Rainbow Mission Foundation, said. He added that the organizers are prepared a court appeal. Last week, organizers of the march applied for an extension to their usual downtown route, which the police had previously accepted. That extension would have taken the march in front of parliament, where marchers planned to protest against Hungary's controversial media law and the upcoming new constitution, both perceived as detrimental to the cause of gay rights, said Steigler. The Rainbow Mission Foundation eventually modified its request so that the march would have stopped short of the square, as suggested by police. But by Friday, permission for the entire march had been withdrawn, citing a disproportionate disruption to traffic, Steigler said. "We suspect that the decision was politically motivated... a lot of things have happened in politics since the last march," he said. In 2008, parade participants were attacked by far-right extremists, although the 2010 pride parade ended peacefully.