The Bulgarian parliament has approved an amendment to the national Education Act that would ban the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relations or orientations, as well as gender changes, in schools or kindergartens.
The move, which was supported by most of the legislators in the nation’s parliament, has incited the wrath of LGBT advocacy groups in Bulgaria and the EU, which are demanding that Brussels “take action” against Sofia.
The bill passed on Wednesday in two readings following four hours of heated debates, according to the local media. In the second and final reading, 135 members of parliament supported the legislation while 57 voted against it and eight abstained.
The amendment, introduced by the nationalist Revival Party, was approved by most of the parties in the legislature, including the center-right GERB-SDS, the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party and most centrist DPS members.
The liberal PP-DB was the only party in the parliament that voted against it.
The amendment prohibits the “propaganda, popularization and incitement” of all ideas related to “non-traditional sexual orientation or determination of gender identity other than biological,” according to local media reports.
The legislation defines non-traditional sexual orientation as anything “different from” heterosexual attraction.
Revival Party leader Kostadin Kostadinov claimed the LGBT ideology is “not humane” and that it was “anti-human” to “promote” non-traditional relationships in schools.
DPS MP Yordan Tsonev said there was “no place” for such education in schools, claiming the bill had nothing to do with intolerance, while former Bulgarian Education Minister Krasimir Valchev said children “should not be subject to such influences.”
Meanwhile, MP Yavor Bozhankov of the PP-DB Party branded the amendment a display of “pre-election populism” and “ugly homophobia” that promotes division in society. He also slammed the Revival Party as “pro-Russian.”
Other critics of the bill also pointed to a similar law enacted in Russia. “It is deeply troubling to see Bulgaria adopting tactics from Russia's anti-human rights playbook,” the EU-wide LGBT advocacy group Forbidden Colors said.
The organization branded the legislation “a direct assault on the fundamental human rights of LGBTIQ+ individuals, particularly children.”
It also claimed that the wording of the bill was reminiscent of similar laws adopted in Russia in 2013 and in Hungary in 2021 and urged Brussels to “take decisive action” against Bulgaria.