Protesters gathered outside the Bulgarian Parliament on Thursday to express their dissatisfaction with a law amendment passed the previous day that bans the promotion of LGBTQ+ and “non-traditional sexual preferences” in schools.
The protest was organized by feminist, LGBTQ+, and other rights groups demanding the withdrawal of the amendment, Euronews reported.
Demonstrators waved rainbow flags and chanted “Veto the law!” as police secured the scene. Ivan Ivanov, one of the protesters, told Euronews that he believed it was the first step towards criminalizing non-traditional sexual orientation, a move he finds totally unacceptable and contrary to what he wants Bulgaria to stand for.
One of the organizers of the demonstration was the local branch of Amnesty International, an organization that has received huge funding from the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundations over the years.
The amendment was passed by the Bulgarian parliament on Wednesday and was voted for by several pro-EU parties. In the 240-seat parliament, 159 MPs voted in favor of the amendment.
The amendment bans the “promotion and support in schools of ideas and opinions related to non-traditional sexual orientation or sexual identification other than biological sex.”
Bulgaria has previously been criticized by the EU for violating the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
