Bulgaria: Protest to urge presidential veto of homophobic ‘law of hate’
A protest is to be held in front of the Presidency building in Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia on August 15 at 6.30pm to urge head of state Roumen Radev to veto homophobic legislation approved by Parliament last week.
As approved at two readings on August 7, the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act forbid “propaganda, popularization or instigation in any way whatsoever, whether directly or indirectly, in the educational system of any ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or gender identification otherwise than according to the biological sex”.
Tabled by pro-Russian party Vuzrazhdane and approved at second reading with the support of GERB-UDF, Vuzrazhdane, both factions of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and ITN, the amendments have caused outrage among civil rights groups and already there have been public protests.
Organisers of the August 15 protest, which is to call for a presidential veto of what they term the law of hate, noted that a new bill had been tabled providing for 10 000 leva in fines and two years of disqualification for teachers accused of violating the earlier amendments.
The organisers said that in a short time, there had been record mobilisation in Sofia and Varna, protests against the amendments had been held outside Bulgaria and there had been messages of solidarity from like-minded people in Romania, Poland, the UK and other countries.
A huge amount of letters had been sent to MPs and in a few days more than 7000 signatures had been gathered for a petition for a presidential veto.
Reportedly, the European Commission has sent an inquiry to Bulgaria’s Ministry of Education about the amendments, which critics have said violate Bulgaria’s anti-discrimination legislation, the country’s constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Update: In the State Gazette of August 15, Radev promulgated the amendments, instead of imposing a veto.
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