Homosexuality in Bulgaria

Homosexuality has been legalized in Bulgaria since the start of the EU enlargement negotiations and has received a certain level of protection from discrimination . These changes represent an alignment with the legal situation in the European Union .

Legal situation

Homosexuality was legalized in 1968; since 2002, the age of consent for both sexes has been 15 years.

An Anti-Discrimination Act has existed at the legal level since 2003, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the areas of employment, education, property, health care, and access to goods and services. The law was issued as an implementation of the anti-discrimination legislation of the European Union. Homosexual people can serve in the military .

Same-sex marriage and registered partnership are not legally permitted in Bulgaria . The state has not yet officially recognized same-sex couples.

Social situation

A small LGBT - community but above all is to be found mainly in the big cities, in the capital Sofia and in Varna . The most important LGBT organization in Bulgaria is BGO Gemini , which was founded in 1992 and has been providing educational and integration work ever since. In 2003 she was involved in the preparation of a draft law that ensured the implementation of the EU Equality Directive in Employment and Occupation (2000/78).

An LGBT demonstration or the Gay Pride Parade took place in Sofia for the first time in 2008, leading to violent clashes by nationalist and right-wing extremist counter-demonstrators. There was pressure from the church, mosque and representatives of the right-wing scene in advance. In contrast, the actions in previous years were always peaceful. Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev expressed disapproval of the demonstration because he believed that “such orientations” should not be shown publicly.

A 2002 survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that 37% of Bulgarians are in favor of social acceptance of homosexuality. A recent survey carried out by the EU showed that 15% of the population are in favor of same-sex marriage.

No complaints were reported during the Gay Pride Parades in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Movies

Pavel G. Vesnakov: Pride , short film, 2013

Web links

Commons : Homosexuality in Bulgaria - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

BGO Gemini (English, Bulgarian)
Bulgarian Gay Guide (English)
Rumiana Bozhkova: The media image of homosexuals in Bulgaria ( Memento from October 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 113 kB), 2004

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ILGA Europe: Legal situation regarding LGBT in Bulgaria ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ ^a ^b Gemini: History of the Bulgarian Gay Organization GEMINI ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.bgogemini.org
↑ ILGA Europe: Accessing Health: The Context and the Challenges for LGBT People in Central and Eastern Europe ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 2006 (PDF document) @1@ 2

↑ BGOGemini ( Memento of the original from June 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.