Bulgaria bans LGBT+ 'propaganda' in schools

La Bulgarie a voté une loi à l’encontre de la communauté LGBT +, en interdisant la “propagande” à l’école (image d’illustration). EPA – ADAM VAUGHAN

This Wednesday, August 7, 2024, Bulgaria passed a new law banning “propaganda” in favor of LGBT +  in schools. A new law that responds to the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games according to some NGOs.

The “culture war" against the LGBT + community continues to grow. This Wednesday, August 7, 2024, Bulgaria passed a “surprise" law that makes illegal “the’encouragement" of a “non-traditional sexual orientation” and a gender identity “different from biological”.

A response to the opening ceremony of the Paris games

Denitsa Lubenova, lawyer for the LGBT + association Deistvie (Action), claims that they "profited" d’a current context of "cultural war" around the Olympics to pass this reform. Indeed, the Orthodox Church strongly criticized the opening ceremony, which made room for sexual and gender minorities.

Bulgaria also denounced the participation of Algerian boxers Imane Khelif and Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting, judging that they represented "the other sex& ;quot;.

Third country in Europe

The amendment, introduced on the proposal of the pro-Russian far-right party Vazrajdane (Renaissance), was adopted with 159 votes (22 against and 13 abstentions). It makes illegal "the encouragement" of a "non-traditional sexual orientation" and a gender identity “different from the biological”, based on the model of a Hungarian law strongly criticized by Brussels.

The rapporteurs justified the need to legislate quickly because of an “unacceptable normalization of non-traditional sexual orientation”, driven by a “propaganda” currently underway according to them.

This vote recalls a law in Hungary, since 2021, discussing homosexuality in front of minors is punishable by a fine. And in June 2024, Georgia also passed a law banning LGBT+ propaganda, very similar to legislation used in Russia to repress sexual and gender minorities.

Serious political instability

Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, is in the grip of serious political instability and its voters are called to the polls this fall, due to a lack of a majority, for the seventh time since 2021.”With this law”, the far right hopes “to improve its score in the legislative elections” planned in two months, while the parties represented in Parliament have not managed to form a government majority according to Ms. Lubenova, interviewed by AFP.

For Radoslav Stoyanov, vice-president of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee for the defense of human rights, the new legislation will prevent the dissemination of “scientific information” to students concerning minorities. The NGO LevFem, which is organizing a demonstration on Wednesday late afternoon to denounce the adoption of the text, believes that it will make it impossible “any fight against school bullying of young lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people”.