SOUTH KOREA: Court Rules Seoul Police Cannot Ban LGBT Pride Parade

Via Buzzfeed:

A court in the South Korean capital Seoul ruled Tuesday that police violated the law when they banned a pride march to be held June 28 as the culmination of the Korean Queer Cultural Festival, according to a press release from organizers. Police had denied permits to hold the march, citing conflicting applications for events that overlapped the parade route. These applications were filed as the result of a showdown between Christian conservative activists and LGBT activists, who had both camped out in front of the police station processing applications for more than a week in May. The conservatives managed to get their public use applications in first. On Tuesday, the court ruled this violated the LGBT activists’ right to protest. “Unless there is a clear risk of danger to the public, preventing the demonstration is not allowed and should be the absolute last resort,” the court ruled, according to a local news report.

Last year's parade was supported by the US embassy and Google. Opponents are largely organized by the Christian Council of Korea, a coalition claiming to represent 20 Christian groups and 12 million South Koreans.