Bulgaria’s New LGBT+ Law Sidelines Civil Rights Groups Warn — Global Issues
BRATISLAVA, Sep 04 (IPS) – A law banning the expression of LGBT+ identity in Bulgarian educational institutions is the latest piece of repressive legislation in a wider attack on minorities and marginalized communities across Europe and Central Asia, rights groups have warned.
The law, passed through a fast-track process last month, is similar to legislation passed or proposed in many countries across the region in recent years that restrict LGBT+ rights.
And while Bulgaria’s law is expected to have a negative impact on children and young people in the country, it may also be followed by legislation aimed at oppressing other groups in society, following a pattern used by extremist rulers across the region, activists say. .
“Usually anti-LGBT laws go hand in hand with other laws. One will soon follow the other. This is about some political parties focusing and gaining their power. LGBT+ people and other marginalized groups are just scapegoats,” Belinda Dear, Chief Advocacy Officer at LGBT+ organization ILGA Europe, told IPS.
An amendment to the Bulgarian education law, which was passed on August 7, 2024 by a large majority in the parliament, prohibits “propaganda, promotion, or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the educational system of ideas and opinions related to traditional non-conformity. gender preference and/or non-gender identity of blood”.
Kostadin Kostadinov, chairman of the far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party that introduced the law, said “LGBT propaganda is against humanity and will not be accepted in Bulgaria.”
Critics say the law will have a negative impact on LGBT+ children in a country where LGBT+ people already face struggles for their rights. In its most recent Rainbow Map, which analyzes the state of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms across the continent, ILGA Europe ranked Bulgaria 38 out of 48 countries.
“The teachers we talked to are really afraid of what will happen now. We expect to see a big increase in attacks and harassment of school children because of sexism and sexism,” Denitsa Lyubenova, Director of Legal Program & Projects at Deystvie, one of the largest LGBT+ organizations in Bulgaria, told IPS.
“This law has just been enacted so we cannot be sure of its direct impact yet, but what we know in other places is that laws like this in schools will have an impact on children and youth, will increase bullying and allow discrimination against other students, too. even the teachers,” added Dear.
Like other rights campaigners, Lyubenova pointed out similarities between the Bulgarian law and similar laws passed in other countries in Europe and Central Asia in recent years.
So-called ‘anti-LGBT+ propaganda’ laws were passed in Hungary in 2021 and in Kyrgyzstan last year. This was inspired by a Russian law passed almost a decade earlier, which has been extended to the entire LGBT+ community and followed by laws that prohibit any positive expression of LGBT+ people.
Reports from rights organizations have shown the harmful effects of that law.
But although these laws are totally criticized by local and international organizations, political parties in other countries continue to try to suppress them.
On the same day the Bulgarian law was passed, the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) said it planned to introduce a bill banning the discussion and teaching of LGBT+ topics in schools at the next parliamentary session in September.
Meanwhile, in June, the ruling Georgian Dream party in Georgia proposed a law that would, among other things, ban any LGBT+ gatherings, ban same-sex marriages, gender reassignment and same-sex adoption.
It will also ban LGBT+ ‘propaganda’ in schools and broadcasters and advertisers will have to remove any content depicting same-sex relationships before broadcast, regardless of the age of the target audience.
In both countries, the proposed law comes soon after the implementation of so-called ‘foreign agent laws’ that impose restrictions and heavy obligations on certain NGOs that receive foreign funding. Critics say such laws could have a negative impact on society, pointing to a similar law introduced in Russia in 2012 as part of the Kremlin’s ban on civil society. The law, which led to affected NGOs being forced to identify themselves as ‘foreign agents’ has resulted in the effective closure of many civil society organizations in fields ranging from human rights to health care.
Campaigners say it’s no coincidence that anti-LGBT+ laws and ‘foreign agent’ laws are being introduced next to each other.
“It may be the first in a series of laws that will discriminate not only against LGBT+ people, but also other marginalized groups, considered ‘problem’ by right-wing organizations in Bulgaria,” said Lyubenova.
“This anti-LGBT+ law comes from the Revival group, which has put forward ‘foreign agent law’ bills in Bulgaria. We expect the foreign agent bill to be introduced in the Bulgarian parliament soon,” he added.
In Georgia, where a law restricting LGBT+ rights will be debated in a final session this month in parliament, civil society activists say the government is using one law to drum up support for another.
“Both laws are part of the same thing, a big evil,” Paata Sabelashvili, board member of the Equality Movement NGO in Georgia, told IPS.
Dear said the passing of the ‘foreign embassies’ laws is part of a template used by democratic regimes to seize power by “dissolving civil society, which is always on the lookout for politicians”.
Other parts of the template, he said, would also “end the independence of the judiciary, as well as the media”. Russia, Hungary, Georgia and Slovakia tend to perform poorly on international press freedom indicators, and concerns have been raised about threats to media independence in Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, Russia is widely seen as lacking an independent judiciary and concerns have been raised about government influence on judicial systems in Slovakia, Georgia and Hungary.
The governments that introduced these laws say they are important to maintain the values of their countries and to limit foreign powers—especially western ones—that influence internal politics and undermine the country. These claims have been repeatedly rejected by civil society organizations and minority groups targeted by the legislation.
Some rights campaigners see the introduction of these laws as part of a concerted international effort to not only spread certain ideas but also entrench authoritarian regimes.
Although the introduction of these laws are clearly the actions of independent governments, campaigners say that the politicians who support these laws are not doing anything of their own free will.
Activists in Slovakia and Georgia who spoke to IPS highlight the strong anti-Russian sentiment expressed by their countries’ ruling parties, while Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has come under fire even among European Union officials for his closeness to the Kremlin and criticism of aid. in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Meanwhile, Russia—as it does many other central Asian countries—and Kyrgyzstan have historic ties dating back to the Soviet Union.
“These groups have links to Russia. It’s organized in a systematic way; it’s very well organized,” Dear said.
“I believe this is all part of a wider trend linked to governments and/or groups,” Tamar Jakeli, LGBT+ activist and Director of Tbilisi Pride in Tbilisi, Georgia, told IPS.
Forbidden Colors, an LGBT+ advocacy group based in Brussels, linked the Bulgarian law directly to the Kremlin’s crackdown on rights in Russia.
“It is very troubling to see Bulgaria using tactics in Russia’s book against human rights,” the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, international and Bulgarian rights groups have called on the EU to take action to force the Bulgarian government to remove the anti-LGBT+ law, while Bulgarian civil society organizations are preparing to fight its implementation. There have been street protests against it in the capital, Sofia, and Lyubenova said her organization is also preparing legal challenges to the law.
“What these opposition groups are doing with this law is that they are testing our ability to resist hateful actions. We must challenge it,” said Lyubenova.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
