Bulgarians Hold Rival Rallies After President Approves Anti-LGBTQ+ Law Change
Rival protests were held in central Sofia on Thursday after President Rumen Radev endorsed a legislative amendment banning LGBTQ+ “propaganda” and “gender ideology” in schools, in a stark demonstration of Bulgaria’s deep political polarisation.
Up to 2,000 people protested against the measure, facing off against roughly 500 supporters on the other side of Independence Boulevard. Lines of police stood between them.
The amendment, which echoes a similar ban in Russia, was filed by the far-right, pro-Moscow Revival party. On Monday, a request was submitted to the presidency signed by more than 6,000 people and over 70 organisations, calling on Radev to veto the amendment. Rejecting the call, he signed the amendment into law.
The larger protest included several MPs from the reformist alliance of We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, which have been criticised after many of their lawmakers did not vote on the amendment during its first reading; others abstained at the second and final reading.
Over six thousand people and over seventy organisations filed on Monday a request for the President to drop the law.
Members of the transgender community, which saw its rights limited by a controversial Supreme Court ruling in 2023.
The same year was marked by the hunger strike initiated by trans woman Gabriella Bankova in front of Sofia’s Judicial Palace.
Local artists including People of Maha and Vick entertained the crowd.
On the other side of the boulevard, Revival supporters claimed to know of private schools promoting so-called ‘gender ideology’. Some said they were worried that Bulgaria would end up legalising paedophilia. Several denied being homophobic but said they were against the kind of values and policies they see as coming from the West.
They were hopeful that a ‘foreign agents’ law, again modelled on Russia, would soon be adopted, taking aim at media outlets and NGOs that receive funding from outside Bulgaria.
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The LGBTQ+ “propaganda” amendment passed in parliament with the support of pro-Russian factions as well as GERB and its allies in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, two parties that are, on paper at least, committed to Bulgaria’s European alignment.
Protests against the amendment were also seen in Varna, as well as among Bulgarians living in London, Berlin and The Hague.
On Thursday, more than 500 teachers and academics signed an open letter criticising the amendment for “introducing sanctions for a non-existing problem”.
“The legal amendments will not only create legal conflicts but impose a disturbing atmosphere of self-censorship,” they said.
https://balkaninsight.com/2024/08/16/bulgarians-hold-rival-rallies-after-president-approves-anti-lgbtq-law-change/