Bulgaria

Bulgaria decriminalized same-sex relations in 1968. Antidiscrimination laws that were put into place in 2004 protected against “direct” and “indirect” discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The laws provided for equal protection in access to housing, education, and medication. In 2015, amendments to the antidiscrimination laws expanded protections based on “sex,” including “sex change.” However, Article 46 of the Bulgarian Constitution institutionalizes discrimination by prohibiting same-sex marriage, restricting the right to marriage to “men and women.”

In 2020, a same-sex couple filed a case before the European Court of Human Rights, Koilova and Babulkova v. Bulgaria, challenging the lack of recognition of same-sex relationships. The applicants argued that such a status was required to uphold the state’s duty to protect the family and private lives of its people, an obligation under the European Convention on Human Rights. The 2023 ruling found Bulgaria in violation of its obligations to respect family life and privacy.

However, the government has refused to amend its laws to provide equal treatment to those in same-sex relationships. In contrast, Bulgarian anti-LGBTIQ laws are emerging rapidly and in violation of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, earning criticism from the Council of Europe.

In 2023, the Bulgarian Supreme Court ruled that transgender people would no longer be able to change their legal names and gender markers. It explicitly banned “the change of the data regarding the sex, name, and uniform civil status in the acts of civil status of an applicant who claims to be transgender.“ This ruling contravenes the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Y.T. v. Bulgaria (2020), which found Bulgaria to be in violation of the right to privacy and family life with the failure of its domestic courts to grant accessible legal gender recognition to its applicants.

In 2024, Parliament introduced a draft law resembling Russian-style laws banning “foreign” funding for organizations, branding them “foreign agents,” restricting their freedom of association, and stigmatizing working with international movements. In the same year, Bulgaria adopted a law amending the Pre-School and School Education Act to prohibit “carrying out propaganda, promotion or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or the definition of gender identity other than the biological one.” 

In 2025, far-right parties in Bulgaria aimed to pass two bills that seek to ban “displays of LGBTIQ content” in public, also utilizing the language of protecting children, while at the same time criminalizing medical professionals who provide gender-affirming care to transgender teenagers. The second bill aims to target legal gender recognition and to amend the Personal Documents Act to statutorily prohibit access to legal gender recognition, codifying the regressive 2023 Supreme Court ruling. 

Conversion practices are common in Bulgaria, with 31 percent of LGBTIQ respondents reporting in 2023 that they had experienced conversion practices in their lifetime, higher than the 24 percent European Union average. Intersex infants and children are not protected from harmful nonconsensual medical interventions.

Politicians strategically engage in hateful rhetoric and propose hostile legislation during election periods. In the run-up to the 2024 elections, Sofia Pride, an LGBTIQ organization, asked candidates to sign a declaration on the fulfillment of the rights of LGBTIQ persons. Only 28 of over 6,000 candidates signed the declaration before the June 2024 elections, while a mere 13 of nearly 5,000 candidates signed it ahead of the October 2024 elections. During the parliamentary debate on the Law on Amending the Pre-school and School Education Act, MPs made derogatory comments about LGBTIQ people. After the law’s passing, several far-right and other groups vocally called for the immediate implementation of the law, including demanding the revocation of the LGBTIQ youth organization Single Step’s license to work with minors. 

In 2024, only 22 percent of respondents surveyed said that the country is a “good place” for gay and lesbian people. In a 2023 survey, only 26 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “The rights of LGBTI+ people, including the right to marry, should be guaranteed.”