Pride ban overturned

A Hungarian court has overturned a police ban on the 2011 Budapest Pride march, scheduled for June this year.

Police initially gave permission but then banned the entire parade, citing traffic concerns, when organisers asked permission to march by the Hungarian Parliament.

Marchers were attacked by members of far right groups and hooligans in 2007, 2008 and 2009, but last year’s march was largely incident-free.

But Hungarian politics have taken a dramatic slide to the right since the Socialist Party lost power last year and the centre right Fidesz party gained a majority in both houses, while an extreme far right party received almost one in five votes.

The new government is seeking to create a new constitution for the country, which many fear may strip back rights and enshrine discrimination on a number of fronts.