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Sofia Pride
Sofia Pride Parade is a peaceful march of LGBT people and their relatives and friends, which combines social and
political protest with entertainment such as live concerts. It takes place every year in the month of June in Bulgaria's capital Sofia since 2008. The first Sofia Pride parade was held on June 28, 2008, on the same date as the Stonewall riots in New York City that occurred in 1969. Same-sex sexual activity became legal on May 1, 1968. Between 1968 and the collapse of communism in 1989, no publicly gay movements nor places of social gatherings existed. After democracy was established in 1990, several gay bars and clubs opened doors in the capital of Sofia as well as in Varna and Plovdiv.
Some consider it the most massive public demonstration in support of human rights in Bulgaria, articulating a protest against xenophobia and a way to show LGBT friends and relatives love and support but also as an inspiration for confidence and pride in LGBT people and all minorities who feel oppressed and suffer from society's prejudice. While the event is supported by many national and international partners and representatives of the diplomatic community in Bulgaria as well as Human Rights Organizations, it also polarizes. Many citizens consider the Sofia Pride a provocation and an unnecessary spectacle, claiming the event has little purpose but to offend.[citation needed]
In 1992 BGO Gemini, the up until then biggest gay non-profit organization in Bulgaria, was founded, giving gay people some representation and visibility. It ceased operations in 2009. The main LGBT rights organization in Bulgaria right now is "Action" ("Действие" in Bulgarian). The non-profit has over 4500 fans on Facebook as of January 2017. Since 2012 the Sofia Pride is organized by a committee consisting of volunteers and independent NGOs. The administrative face of the event is Bilitis Resource Center Foundation.
In 2019, around 6000 attendees marched on the gay pride parade.
Forty years after being gay became legal, the very first Pride Parade came into existence. The first Sofia Pride parade, organized by the BGO Gemini, was held on June 28, 2008, and it was attended by some 120 people. Violence characterized the first gay pride in the country. No one was hurt but the attempt to attack the people participating in the parade proved the high level of hatred towards gay people. Before the parade 70 ultra nationalists and skinheads were already arrested by police. The police was well organized and successfully prevented any casualties.
The second Sofia Pride Parade was held on June 27, 2009, with no arrests and violence this time during the march. More people attended, in between 150 and 300. The second pride was very successful and people waved from the open windows of their homes, there was also less spoken political opposition towards the pride. However, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC) made an anti-parade statement (they also made one during the first held parade) since a few days earlier a young theologist from the Theologic Faculty of the University of Sofia made their anti-gay pride parade, for which they were vastly mocked. Nonetheless, public opinion paid attention to this even more (BOC also made it difficult to introduce domestic partnership in the Bulgarian Family law the same year).
Ten foreign embassies (later 12) in Bulgaria were the first to officially support the second Sofia Pride parade. The political party Bulgarian Greens ("Zelenite") officially supported the pride by issuing a statement of support on June 15, 2009. Three days later the Bulgarian Socialist Youth declared its support too.
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Sofia Pride
Sofia Pride Parade is a peaceful march of LGBT people and their relatives and friends, which combines social and
political protest with entertainment such as live concerts. It takes place every year in the month of June in Bulgaria's capital Sofia since 2008. The first Sofia Pride parade was held on June 28, 2008, on the same date as the Stonewall riots in New York City that occurred in 1969. Same-sex sexual activity became legal on May 1, 1968. Between 1968 and the collapse of communism in 1989, no publicly gay movements nor places of social gatherings existed. After democracy was established in 1990, several gay bars and clubs opened doors in the capital of Sofia as well as in Varna and Plovdiv.
Some consider it the most massive public demonstration in support of human rights in Bulgaria, articulating a protest against xenophobia and a way to show LGBT friends and relatives love and support but also as an inspiration for confidence and pride in LGBT people and all minorities who feel oppressed and suffer from society's prejudice. While the event is supported by many national and international partners and representatives of the diplomatic community in Bulgaria as well as Human Rights Organizations, it also polarizes. Many citizens consider the Sofia Pride a provocation and an unnecessary spectacle, claiming the event has little purpose but to offend.[citation needed]
In 1992 BGO Gemini, the up until then biggest gay non-profit organization in Bulgaria, was founded, giving gay people some representation and visibility. It ceased operations in 2009. The main LGBT rights organization in Bulgaria right now is "Action" ("Действие" in Bulgarian). The non-profit has over 4500 fans on Facebook as of January 2017. Since 2012 the Sofia Pride is organized by a committee consisting of volunteers and independent NGOs. The administrative face of the event is Bilitis Resource Center Foundation.
In 2019, around 6000 attendees marched on the gay pride parade.
Forty years after being gay became legal, the very first Pride Parade came into existence. The first Sofia Pride parade, organized by the BGO Gemini, was held on June 28, 2008, and it was attended by some 120 people. Violence characterized the first gay pride in the country. No one was hurt but the attempt to attack the people participating in the parade proved the high level of hatred towards gay people. Before the parade 70 ultra nationalists and skinheads were already arrested by police. The police was well organized and successfully prevented any casualties.
The second Sofia Pride Parade was held on June 27, 2009, with no arrests and violence this time during the march. More people attended, in between 150 and 300. The second pride was very successful and people waved from the open windows of their homes, there was also less spoken political opposition towards the pride. However, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC) made an anti-parade statement (they also made one during the first held parade) since a few days earlier a young theologist from the Theologic Faculty of the University of Sofia made their anti-gay pride parade, for which they were vastly mocked. Nonetheless, public opinion paid attention to this even more (BOC also made it difficult to introduce domestic partnership in the Bulgarian Family law the same year).
Ten foreign embassies (later 12) in Bulgaria were the first to officially support the second Sofia Pride parade. The political party Bulgarian Greens ("Zelenite") officially supported the pride by issuing a statement of support on June 15, 2009. Three days later the Bulgarian Socialist Youth declared its support too.