Bulgaria amends Protection from Discrimination Act to cover sex changes
Bulgaria’s Parliament has voted to approve amendments to the Protection from Discrimination Act to include protection against discrimination in the case of gender reassignment.
The March 25 vote was a second attempt after a vote on the amendments failed last week.
The amendments were approved in a 93-23 vote, with 23 abstentions, after Deputy Prime Minister Ivailo Kalfin told the National Assembly that the matter had been the subject of correspondence with the European Commission since 2012.
He said that the EC had raised the matter again in a letter in August 2014 and in February had said that if the amendments were not approved by March 31 2015, Bulgaria could face a procedure for failing to comply with EU legislation.
Kalfin told MPs that the amendments did not create new rights but provided clarity on the clauses concerning protection against discrimination on the grounds of gender.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
