Bulgaria published a law which aims to ban “propaganda” about LGBTQ+ people in schools on Friday. The controversial law was passed by Parliament on August 8, and it was subsequently accepted by President Rumen Radev in Bulgaria’s State Gazette.

The law amends Bulgaria’s Preschool and School Education Act, the policy governing the country’s schools, to include language that forbids “propaganda” about “non-traditional sexual orientation.” It defines non-traditional sexual orientation that as:

Different from the generally accepted and embedded in the Bulgarian legal tradition concepts of emotional, romantic, sexual or sensual attraction between persons of opposite sexes.

The law was widely criticized by LGBTQ+ rights NGOs. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) condemned the bill, stating:

The proponents of the law, the Revival Party, and all those who voted in favour of the law claim that this is to protect young people, however the truth is that this is an attack on the rights of children, particularly LGBTI children.

The Bulgarian law was modelled after Russian and Hungarian laws restricting expression surrounding sexual orientation. Those laws were passed in 2013 and 2021 respectively. Human Rights Watch described Russia’s law as an “unabashed example of political homophobia.”

Bulgaria is 1 of 16 member states of the Council of Europe which do not recognize same-sex unions. In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights found the nonrecognition violates Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects Europeans’ private and family life. ILGA ranked Bulgaria 40th out of 49 European countries in terms of their treatment of LGBTA+ individuals.