What's life like for LGBTQ people in Bulgaria?
Let’s take a look at a few of the key equality indicators.
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Bulgaria? Let’s take a look at a few of the key equality measures.
Is homosexuality legal in Bulgaria?
Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in Bulgaria in 1968 when revisions were made to the penal code.
The age of consent is 14, regardless of sexuality.
Are there anti-discrimination protections in place for LGBTQ people in Bulgaria?
There have been comprehensive protections against discrimination in place since 2004 – this includes discrimination on the basis of sexuality.
Is there Marriage Equality in Bulgaria?
There is currently no legal recognition of same-sex relationships. It is an ongoing point of discussion, but in 1991 the country’s constitution was amended to specifically limit marriage to opposite-sex partners.
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Bulgaria?
Bulgaria is a socially conservative country. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a powerful force, and actively advocates against LGBTQ equality.
There is an LGBTQ community in Sofia, the country’s capital, but in the rest of the country homosexuality is generally seen as a taboo topic and homophobia is considered to be systemic.
In the ILGA report on LGBTQ equality in Europe, Bulgaria was ranked 38th overall. With a total score of 21.26%, Bulgaria had its best score on Civil Society Space but lost points on all other criteria.
Kosta Karakashyan on How To Date Men
For our podcast, How To Date Men, we caught up with Bulgarian filmmaker, Kosta Karakashyan.
In the conversation, we talk systemic homophobia, controversy in Bulgaria, and the sensuality of movement.
