EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). Finally, the resistance to “wokism” started taking practical measures! The Bulgarian Parliament passed a law that is banning LGBTQ promotion in schools, a common sense move that should be adopted everywhere on the planet. It is unconscionable that we are allowing the schools that are paid by our taxes to accept drag queens and queer books, and all the rest. Of course, the “identities” crowd got offended and took to the streets… Let them get used to it: societies will return to normalcy whether they like it or not.
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source – euronews.com
LGBTQ+ rights at risk in Bulgaria as parliament approves anti ‘propaganda’ law
Human rights activists have called on the EU to clamp down on Bulgaria after MPs voted through an amendment to ban the promotion of LGBTQ+ “propaganda” in schools.
Bulgaria has passed a law banning LGBTQ+ “propaganda” in schools, in a new blow to human rights that advocacy groups and campaigners have widely condemned.
The amendment to Bulgaria’s education law, voted through by parliament on Wednesday, bans the “propaganda, promotion, or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or gender identity other than the biological one.”
Members of parliament approved the draft law with a large majority, giving it 159 votes in favour, 22 against, and 12 abstentions.
The amendment, suggested by the country’s pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane party, also introduced a definition of “non-traditional sexual orientation” — which is being explained as contrary to Bulgaria’s legal concept of “emotional, romantic, sexual or sensual attraction between persons of opposite sexes”.
The law has sent shockwaves throughout Bulgaria, prompting protesters to take to the streets and human rights groups to slam its progression through parliament.
Activists and organisations such as LevFem, Feminist Mobilisations, and the LGBTQ+ organisation Action rallied under the slogan “School for all! Let’s stop the hate!”.
Forbidden Colours, an EU-wide LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said in a press release that it condemns the new law “as a direction assault on the fundamental human rights of LGBTIQ+ individuals, particularly children”.
“It is deeply troubling to see Bulgaria adopting tactics from Russia’s anti-human rights playbook,” it continued. “Such actions are not only regressive but are also in direct contradiction to the values of equality and non-discrimination that the European Union stands for.”
The wording of the law is reminiscent of Russian and Hungarian anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda laws, according to Forbidden Colours, suggesting it is an attempt by the Bulgarian government to suppress the visibility of LGBTQ+ individuals and push back human rights.
In 2021, the Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party amended its law on paedophilia and on the protection of children to limit their exposure to material “promoting homosexuality”, gender reassignment, and LGBT representation in the media or public space. Violations of the law are punishable with fines or prison sentences.
Global human rights organisation Amnesty International said earlier this year that the Hungarian law has “created a cloud of fear” that has pushed LGBTQ+ into the shadows, and the worry now is that the same thing will happen in Bulgaria.
Campaigners are calling on the EU to do more to clamp down on discriminatory measures against LGBTQ+ people among its members.
“The European Union cannot stand idly by while one of its member states enacts laws that endanger the safety and rights of LGBTIQ+ individuals,” Forbidden Colours said, urging the European Commission to “take decisive action against Bulgaria to uphold the principles of equality and human rights that are at the core of the EU”.
Bulgaria, like much of Eastern Europe, is consistently ranked at the bottom end for LGBTQ+ freedoms by civil rights organisations and researchers.
In its most recent Rainbow Map, which analyses the state of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms across the continent, the European branch of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association ranked Bulgaria 38th out of 48 countries.
It also gave Bulgaria a score of 23.22%, with 0% representing “gross violations of human rights and discrimination” and 100% meaning respect for human rights and full equality.
Out of the 27 EU member states, Bulgaria came in third last, just above Romania and Poland, and well below the EU average of 50.61%.
The EU does not mandate pro LGBTQ propaganda in schools or anywhere else. Propaganda is when a way of life is promoted, as superior to others. If the Bulgarian schools teach that it is beneficial to students to turn queer, then, it is propaganda and should be banned. I doubt that’s what is being taught. The EU is against discrimination of LGBTQ. It is considered a violation of human rights to push any kind of people into the shadows. Bulgaria, a former communist block country, considers itself as part of the Russian world. Even though she was accepted at the EU, it was an error to do so. She is still conflicted as to which path to follow. Bulgarians know that Russia is an outact and they don’t want to go there. But their “Slav blood” draws them to Russia’s orbit. Besides, democracy is not rooted in Bulgaria, due to never having democratic government until after 1990. Bottom line. We do not accept Bulgaria’s example.
We have readers in Bulgaria and they will surely answer to you… Do we have democracy in America when the “Democrat” party picks a candidate who hasn’t received a single vote? Or who put Tulsi Gabbard on the terror watch list? P-lease… You should see the public schools in Greece and how they indoctrinate – worse than our American public schools… have no doubt – it’s EU policy…
Nick.
We can find flaws in all democracies, if we look for it. My writing was not meant to doubt Bulgaria’s democratic institution. I have never been there and have never followed the news of Bulgaria. What I said was that Bulgarians don’t have deep roots in democracy, because they don’t have the legacy or the instinct yet. It takes decades and even centuries for a true democracy to take root. Greeks had always had democratic instincts, since the war of liberation was declared. Yes, there were coups, mostly in the 20th century, but, always reverted to democracy from the bottom up, because the people wanted it, they knew what democracy was and accepted it. . Bulgaria never had the bottom up experience, stemming from popular support, which is essential.
Greece is an anarchists’ paradise run by mafia political families – not a real democracy. Switzerland is closer to the democratic ideal than any other country – with some asterisks of course.
Bob,
I don’t think you have seen the contrast between Greek school books today and those from 40+ years ago, when Greece was still “sort of” traditional (despite the 1960’s-70’s social / modernist revolution)…while anyone can argue that “propaganda” is something that governments have always loved to promote via schools (in any country), there is no doubt that schools in Greece have turned into “anti- traditional values” indoctrination centers in the last couple of decades, even openly teaching “Turkish propaganda” (using the word “συνωστισμος” in Smyrni, for example), with the full support of the corrupt Greek governors and their “international overlords”…
Bulgaria has always been a problematic “neighbor” to the north, perpetrating a Balkan war, committing nasty war crimes in WW2, and in post-WW2 being a silent “supporting mother” of the “Skopje” problem, as that happens to be a Bulgarian dialect, spoken by delusional, brainwashed people with mostly Bulgarian DNA who have convinced themselves that they are descendants of Alexander the Great, as well as a vision that aligns with the old Bulgarian dream of Bulgarian speakers owning Thessaloniki one day, but in this particular case, “even the broken clock tells the right time twice per day”…they got this “LGBT propaganda in schools” thing right.
Markos
I have not read what Greek school books say about LGBTQ and if they are actually propagandizing. However, the fact that they are not teaching the 60’s to 70’s values is not a bad thing. The world changes. We can’t stay static just because us, older folk think the past is better. Please, keep in mind what “propaganda” actually means. When you’re bringing up the “συνωστισμος” in Smyrni”, I am not sure what you’re telling us. The quote is taken out of context and even though I’m very well read in the Smyrni catastrophe, I have no idea what you’re referring to. How is that word a propaganda tool and how do you know that the Greek minister of education is doing the Turks’ bidding?
I agree with you on Bulgaria and I know what they have done to Northern Greece, especially during WWII, when the Greeks of Thrace were abandoning their area and finding refuge at the German occupied part of Greece. Its like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Yes. Bulgaria was a pariah, a follower of the Russians, then the Nazis and then the communists. Not a history to be proud of. As for the LGBTQ propaganda, again, you’re jumping the gun. You characterize it as propaganda without having seen it. Have you read a school book in Bulgarian?
Bob,
A school book recently used the term συνωστισμος to describe what was happening in Smyrni, and didn’t mention anything about the massacres.
According to Socratic and Platonic Philosophy, you can’t change the definition of (good) “values” from one day to the next.
According to the New Testament, “Christ yesterday, today, and unto the ages” means that Christian teaching remains constant, and that on Judgement Day, those who lived in the 1960s, will rise just like you will, but it won’t be easy to make the claim that “your world changed” in order to get more lenient Judgement than your “ancestors” who may have had “different” values more closely aligned to “expectations”…
Christ doesn’t change, and Socrates also knew that Values don’t change either, well before Christ appeared on this earth…