SOFIA — “I’m right here as a result of I consider that being an LGBT individual is just not propaganda,” stated Simona, a 25-year-old girl who was protesting near Bulgaria’s parliament.
She was among the many crowds of protesters who gathered on August 7 and eight within the capital, Sofia, after lawmakers adopted an modification on August 7 that may ban the “propaganda, promotion, or incitement” within the training system of “concepts and views associated to nontraditional sexual orientation and/or gender id apart from the organic one.”
The modification to the Legislation on Preschool and Faculty Schooling was proposed by the pro-Russian far-right Revival social gathering and handed with 159 votes in favor, 20 towards, and 10 abstentions.
The protesters in downtown Sofia waved rainbow flags and banners, chanting “Disgrace on you” and “Cease chasing folks out of Bulgaria.”
Simona, who most well-liked to solely give her first title to RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service, stated this was a “nonexistent drawback” within the nation’s colleges.
“I believe there are extra vital issues” to take care of, she stated. “This legislation might result in much more polarization in society and larger dangers to kids from the LGBT group.”
Even among the politicians who speak about “propaganda” admit that it doesn’t exist in Bulgaria, Simona added, and “this pseudo-law is just supposed to stop it.”
Lawmakers additionally voted on one other modification to the training legislation, which defines “nontraditional sexual orientation” as “completely different from the commonly accepted and established notions…[of] attraction between individuals of reverse sexes.”
The textual content additionally handed however with a smaller majority.
Each authorized adjustments need to be authorised by the president earlier than turning into legislation.
One other protester, Sanya, who additionally most well-liked to solely give her first title, stated that the arguments she had heard from lawmakers supporting the ban had been primarily based on “fictional pictures” of individuals succumbing to propaganda after which adopting a brand new sexual orientation.
“I have not heard of a single case of an grownup or a baby [being subjected to propaganda] and turning into homosexual,” Sanya, 35, informed RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service.
“All of the speeches we heard…in parliament don’t have any connection to actuality. [Lawmakers] are speaking about issues that don’t exist. These fears are simply fears. LGBT folks simply wish to stay fortunately and peacefully,” she stated.
Supporters of the amendments have stated that they mirror the spirit of Bulgaria’s structure, which stipulates that marriage is just between a person and a girl and is predicated on Orthodox Christian values.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church welcomed the amendments in an announcement printed on August 8.
Many rights teams have criticized the amendments, saying that they’re “an assault” on kids’s rights.
“The proponents of the legislation, the Revival social gathering, and all those that voted in favor of the legislation declare that that is to guard younger folks,” LGBT advocacy group ILGA-Europe stated in a assertion.
“Nonetheless, the reality is that that is an assault on the rights of kids, significantly LGBTI kids,” the assertion stated.
Home and worldwide LGBT teams have stated that the wording of the Bulgarian authorized adjustments is analogous to “LGBT propaganda” legal guidelines in Russia and Hungary, which have been criticized by rights teams for violating freedom of expression and selling discrimination and abuse towards LGBT folks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a legislation towards the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” amongst minors in 2013. The legislation has led to the censoring of flicks and commercials, the concentrating on of activists, and the closure of organizations that assist the LGBT group.
In Hungary, a 2021 legislation enacted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing administration prohibits kids underneath the age of 18 from accessing media that “promotes or portrays deviation from [gender] id aligning with intercourse at delivery, gender reassignment, or homosexuality.” The legislation additionally restricts sexual training in colleges.
On the Sofia demonstrations, organized by native LGBT rights and activist teams, protesters held banners saying “Bulgaria is not any Russia” and “Silence means demise.”
“The adopted authorized texts [in Bulgaria] deny the existence of a complete group of kids, straight violating each their rights and the fitting of each little one to stay free from violence,” the Nationwide Community for Youngsters, a Bulgarian alliance of civil society organizations, stated in an announcement.
“They’ve imposed a particularly harmful ideology primarily based on hatred of distinction and create the preconditions for the dehumanization of each human being thought of completely different for any cause,” the alliance stated, including that such legal guidelines might result in the imposition of authoritarian rule.
Protesters and rights group have referred to as on Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to veto the amendments. He has not but commented on his intentions however has 14 days to signal the legislation.
Researchers and human rights organizations routinely place Bulgaria among the many worst international locations in Europe for its file on LGBT rights.
Many Bulgarians’ views on LGBT individuals are nonetheless dominated by conventional stereotypes, a 2023 examine by the Sofia-based Alpha Analysis concluded. Nonetheless, the examine added that “opinions are altering, primarily due to folks’s private experiences and speak to with the difficulty.”