Bulgaria’s president signs anti-LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’ amendments into law
Ruman Radev has signed the anti-LGBTQ+ law (Hristo Rusev/Getty Images)
The president of Bulgaria has signed the country’s dreaded ban on so-called LGBTQ+ propaganda into law.
Rumen Radev, who has been in office since 2017, authorised amendments to the country’s 2020 Pre-school and School Education Act which were proposed by the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane Party and passed by parliament earlier this month by 159 votes to 22.
The amendments outlaw the “propaganda, promotion or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system” and now define “non-traditional sexual orientation” as “different from the generally accepted and established notions in the Bulgarian legal tradition of emotional, romantic, sexual or sensual attraction between persons of opposite sexes”.
The changes have been controversial – and likened to Russia’s crack down on the queer community – with LGBTQ+, feminist and human rights organisations urging Radev not to enact the legislation.
After the amendments were passed in parliament, hundreds of people protested outside the government building in the capital, Sofia.
Protesters waved rainbow Pride flags and held signs which read “silence = death” and “cis-heteronormativity = propaganda”. The crowd also chanted slogans such as “Bulgaria is no Russia” and “silence means death”.
In a statement, queer rights group Deystvie said: “Bulgaria is following in Russia’s footsteps,” referring to Vladimir Putin banning the so-called international LGBT movement.
The new law “implicitly foreshadows a witch-hunt and sanctions any educational efforts related to LGBTQ people in school,” Deystvie lawyer Denitsa Lyubenova said.
Deystvie, alongside other groups, also launched a petition calling for the amendment to be dropped, while more than 500 academics put their names to an open letter denouncing the changes.
Teachers, scientists and doctoral students in Bulgarian higher education institutions and scientific institutions said the changes tackle “a problem that does not exist” and would “normalise political attacks” on the LGBTQ+ community.
“With this letter, we call on the entire Bulgarian academic community to stand in solidarity with a request for a categorical and sharp condemnation of the voted changes,” the signatories wrote.
“At the same time, with this letter, we call on the president of the Republic of Bulgaria to veto the amendments to the law, and the people’s representatives to cancel this absurd and disgraceful project for the institutionalisation of discrimination in school: the core of Bulgarian society.”
In a statement, the executive director of ILGA-Europe, known only as Chaber, said the proponents of the law “claim this is to protect young people’, adding: “The truth is that this is an attack on the rights of children, particularly LGBTI children.
“The aim of the law is extremely similar to the Russian anti-LGBT propaganda law adopted in 2012, and the Hungarian anti-LGBT propaganda law adopted in 2021, both of which have been deemed by various international stakeholders and institutions as incompatible with international and European human rights standards.
“The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has repeatedly found such anti-LGBT propaganda laws to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
“The more-recent Venice Commission opinion on the Hungarian anti-LGBT propaganda law found it to be incompatible with the ECHR and international human rights standards, including the law’s amendments regarding the educational sector.
“It found that the law ‘fails to comply with the obligation of Hungary to ensure that the educational system provides children with objective and non-biased information on gender identity and sexual orientation and protects them from discrimination’.”
The Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Michael O’Flaherty, wrote on X/Twitter on Monday (12 August): “Deeply concerned by the recent law passed by Bulgaria’s parliament to ban so-called LGBTI propaganda in schools. I call on [president] Radev not to sign it. Authorities should tackle discrimination and hostile rhetoric against LGBTI people including in the run-up to elections.”
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