They opposed the law against "LGBT propaganda" in schools/ Teachers in Bulgaria: We are being threatened

2024-08-24 15:53:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

They opposed the law against "LGBT propaganda" in schools/ Teachers in

Teachers in Bulgaria say they are facing threats after signing a petition against a recently passed law banning "LGBT propaganda" in schools.

They blame the far-right Revival party, which initiated the controversial law that has been widely criticized.

The leader of the Revival Party, Kostadin Kostadinov, said on August 22 that he will submit a report to the prosecutor's office about the teachers who have opposed the law.

The law, approved on August 7 in Parliament with the support of pro-European parties, sparked protests in Sofia and other parts of Bulgaria.

The amendment to the law on the education code in Bulgaria prohibits the "propaganda, promotion or instigation of LGBT ideas and attitudes" in schools. He gives no other explanations.

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The pro-Western reformist coalition We Continue Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) still hopes to secure support in the National Assembly to repeal the law.

Critics say this law is almost identical to Russia's anti-LGBT law, which was passed in 2012, and Hungary's anti-LGBT law, which was passed in 2021. These laws in Russia and Hungary have been described as contrary to global standards. and European from various international organizations and institutions.

Bulgaria is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not give equal social rights to homosexual and heterosexual people. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg forced Bulgaria to create a legal framework for recognizing same-sex relationships. Sofia has not yet fulfilled this obligation.

The LGBT community and their supporters in Bulgaria often face verbal and physical threats and attacks.

About 460 teachers and other specialists in the field of education signed a petition to request the repeal of the amended law. About 20 teachers from the Black Sea resort of Varna said they were targeted by the local branch of the Rilindja party, including on Facebook.

Martin Stoyanov, a school psychologist in Varna, said a teacher in the Black Sea city had contacted him on Viber one night recently, expressing fear about the latest threats.

"We are becoming a country where it is dangerous to express your opinion," Stojanov told the Bulgarian Radio Free Europe Service.

The August 21 Facebook post on the account linked to the Rilindja party branch in Varna included a "blacklist" of local teachers who had signed the petition - including Stojanov - against the newly amended law, referring to them as "parasites". .

A day later, Kostadinov, a notoriously controversial figure and purveyor of pro-Kremlin disinformation, said he would hand over to prosecutors the names of around 800 teachers he claimed were "criminals" who "want to push homosexual propaganda".

Threatened teachers in Varna have received a lot of support.

Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev expressed his support in a Facebook post on August 22, asking them to be brave and contact him personally if they are threatened.

Pavel Popov, the deputy mayor of Varna municipality, who is also responsible for education affairs, told Radio Free Europe that the Revival Party is calling for "repressive actions against Bulgarian teachers"./REL