Bulgaria

Overview

Homosexuality in Bulgaria was legalized in 1968. The law 'Protection Against Discrimination Act of 2003' protects individuals from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, criminalizes hate speech and protects from discrimination in relation to military recruitment. Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria has held the annual Sofia Pride since 2008. The Pride is usually accompanied by a LGBT film fest and art week.

• An overview of rights and legal acts by ILGA Europe [in English].
• Country ranking by ILGA Europe [in English].

Academic Institutions

There is no dedicated department to Queer Studies at the Sofia State University. However, some topics are addressed through existing gender studies centre and the sociology department.

• Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
• Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation ​
• Center of Women's Studies and Policies

Resources

Books

• Fejes, N., & Balogh, A. (2012). Queer visibility in post-socialist cultures. Bristol : Intellect books.
• Kulpa, R., & Mizielińska, J. (2011). De-centring Western sexualities : Central and Eastern European perspectives. Farnham : Ashgate.
• Kuhar, R. et al. (2007). Beyond the pink curtain: Everyday life of LGBT people in Eastern Europe. Ljubljana: Peace Institute.

Periodicals

Selected articles

• Darakchi, S. (2018). Emergence and Development of LGBTQ Studies in Post-Socialist Bulgaria. Journal of Homosexuality, 1-10.
• Darakchi, S. (2018). Gender, religion, and identity: Modernization of gender roles among the Bulgarian Muslims (Pomaks). Women's Studies International Forum, 70, 1-8.
• Panayotov, S. (2005). Бинарниот код: Белешки за славење на хомосексуалноста. Идентитети: Списание за политика, род и култура, (8-9), 165-178.
• Pisankaneva, M. (2002). Reflections on Butch-Femme and the Emerging Lesbian Community in Bulgaria. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6(2), 135-144.
• Pisankaneva, M. (2002).The forbidden Fruit: Sexuality in Communist Bulgaria. LiterNet, 08.07.2005, № 7 (68).
• Spina, N. (2016). The Religious Authority of the Orthodox Church and Tolerance Toward Homosexuality. Routledge : Problems of Post-Communism, p.1-13. 

Repositories

• Bulgarian OpenAIRE Repository - is a centralized cross-institutional repository and provides OpenAIRE compliance and free access to all peer-reviewed publications resulting from ERC funded FP7 projects in Bulgaria.
• New Bulgarian University NBU Scholar Electronic Repository - first digital repository of scientific literature in Bulgaria. Faculty members can deposit their papers. Currently there are 565 publications with free online access. The New Bulgarian University encourages faculty members to deposit their research outputs into the repository.

Data and statistics

• Bulgaria hate crime data by OSCE ODIHR [in English].
• Current migration situation in the EU: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex asylum seekers. FRA Europe, March 2017 [in English].
• European LGBT Survey, 2012. FRA Europe [in English].
• State-Sponsored Homophobia report - latest edition, includes maps and dataset, ILGA Europe - a world survey of sexual orientation laws + older editions [in English].

Reports

• Current migration situation in the EU: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex asylum seekers. FRA Europe, March 2017 [in English].
• Доклад от изследване по проект за повишаване чувствителността срещу домашното насилие и насилието при излизане на срещи срещу лесбийки, бисексуални и транс жени. Bilitis, 2016 [in Bulgarian].
• Hate crimes and incidents based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression carried out in Bulgaria in 2017. Deystvie, ILGA Europe [in Bulgarian].
• Legal Study on Homophobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Bulgaria. January 2014 Update. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, FRA Europe [in English].
• Protection against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics in the EU – Comparative legal analysis – Update 2015. FRA Europe [in English].
• Report on anti-LGBTI hate crimes and incidents in Bulgaria in 2017. GLAS Foundation [in English].

News portals

• Bulgayria [in Bulgarian and English].

Audio-visual

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Digital libraries and archives

• Bulgarian Digital Library - contains correspondence, portraits and photographs, Bulgarian newspapers and journals from 1844 to 1944 [in Bulgarian and English].

Organisations

• Bilitis Resource Center Foundation  [in Bulgarian and English].
• Bulgarian Helsinki Committee [in Bulgarian and English].
• GLAS Foundation [in Bulgarian and English].
• Youth Organization LGBT Deystvie [in Bulgarian and English].

Other resources

• An interview with LevFem, a newly formed anti-capitalist queer-feminist collective in Sofia, discussing feminism, socio-economic inequalities, the rising tide of racism, neofascism, ethnophobia, and xenophobia in Bulgaria and the region [in English].
• България - страна без хомофобия! - homophobia reporting website [in Bulgarian].
• LGBT Art Fest Sofia - a community art festival in Sofia [in Bulgarian, and English].
• LGBTI Centre - a joint project of the Youth LGBT Organization Action Association, the Glas Foundation and the Bilitis Resource Center Foundation, an online platform including news, services, leadership and advocacy in the categories of health, law, culture and education [in Bulgarian].
• Single Step - Single Step Foundation's mission is to support, motivate and empower LGBTI people, their families, friends and allies in Bulgaria through the process of recognizing, coming out and affirming their sexual orientation and gender identity [in Bulgarian, and English].
• Sofia Pride - Sofia Pride parade website [in Bulgarian, English].
• Sofia Pride Film Fest [in Bulgarian].
• Sofia Queer Forum - a forum that features art works from the areas of documentary and experimental cinema and video art, contemporary visual and performance arts, fashion, as well as artistic parties. The program also includes presentations and theoretical discussions that touch upon subjects such as technologies and cyber feminism, as well as creating activist networks [in Bulgarian, and English].
• Work it Out - a platform for based in Bulgaria domestic and international companies that want to make their workplaces more inclusive and embrace the benefits of diversity. The purpose of the platform is to promote a positive business and economic case for equality of opportunity for every employee in Bulgaria. It is not a formal organization, but rather a community of companies all sharing the goals for acceptance and inclusion of LGBT people [in Bulgarian, and English].