Hey, So Pride In Bulgaria Is Not  Going Very Well.

hey, so pride in bulgaria is not  going very well.

the parade in our capital Sofia will be on the 12th of june, and there have already been several instances of harassment of lgbtq folks by neonazis.

luckily, i’m not openly or visibly queer, but as a bi girl this is getting kind of scary. i can see the tension building up for some kind of a violent action.

Here’s a link in bulgarian documenting recent queerphobic attacks.

Here’s a translation by me, including some clarifications:

15 may - the first burgas pride in history (burgas is a bulgarian city by the sea) is surrounded and attacked with eggs, cucumbers, rocks and smoke balls by counterprotesters, organized by Vuzrajdane, translated Renascence (a relatively new far-right party) and PUC (Parents United for Children).

25 may - a presentation of a children’s book including same-sex parents in The Steps (a lgbt+ space) is attacked and surrounded by supporters of “traditional values“.

27 may - the presentation of 2 books by Youth LGBT organization “Deystvie“ (translates ”Action”) in Radio Plovdiv is attacked and surrounded by a group of nationalists.

30 may - a projection of the movie “Shells“ by Slava Doycheva is occupied by around 20 young men with Lukovmarsh and Bulgarian National Union symbols (both of these orgs are fascist as fuck), led by the youth branch of VMRO (far-right party)

1 june - on the opening day of the community center “Rainbow Hub“, the entire front door was vandalized with homophobic stickers.

1 june - in the underpass of metrostation Serdika, 6 men from Bulgarian National Union spread homophobic propaganda, harass a person who they recognize from the queer community and threaten him. (luckily a big antifascist crowd gathered and helped the dude)

1 june - the entire facade of The Steps is vandalized with eggs and  foam.

“What rights do you lack?“ “Who’s hindering you?“ What about the right to watch a movie? To read a book? To gather for a peaceful protest against everyday harassment or for a celebration of your community? As wrote the director Slava Doycheva: “Next month will be a daily risk for us - I don’t know how many more examples we need… There are moments in history where you should choose which side are you on.“

angle is bad but this man is burning a rainbow flag

this is a news source saying “a football group blocks Radio Plovdiv for presenting gay books“

“we continue the successful fight against LGBTI propaganda. Every day if we should“

the eggs and foam on “the steps“

i’d appreciate if you could rb this.

EDIT

To those who reblogged this - thank you so much! I decided to add some resources so you can help lgbt+ people in bulgaria.

Here is a link to 2 petitions you can sign. You can also access lots of relevant information (mostly on legal affairs concerning lgbtq people) on this site, some of it in english.

You can donate to the organization Bilitis via paypal, bank transfers and patreon. It spreads awareness and participates in different campaigns and projects, it deals with legal matters - the basic ngo stuff. But it also provides material aid to queer people struggling because of the pandemic and group therapy for queer youth.

You can also support some of the more radical anarcho-queer voices at Violetki Collective and donate to them on paypal. (also come to the server. it’s based, you can get info about events and actions and talk to fellow radicals)