SOFIA -- "I am here because I believe that being an LGBT person is not propaganda," said Simona, a 25-year-old woman who was protesting close to Bulgaria's parliament.
She was among the crowds of protesters who gathered on August 7 and 8 in the capital, Sofia, after lawmakers adopted an amendment on August 7 that would ban the "propaganda, promotion, or incitement" in the education system of "ideas and views related to nontraditional sexual orientation and/or gender identity other than the biological one."
The amendment to the Law on Preschool and School Education was proposed by the pro-Russian far-right Revival party and passed with 159 votes in favor, 20 against, and 10 abstentions.
The protesters in downtown Sofia waved rainbow flags and banners, chanting "Shame on you" and "Stop chasing people out of Bulgaria."
Simona, who preferred to only give her first name to RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, said this was a "nonexistent problem" in the country's schools.
Simona, an LGBT rights protester in Sofia
"I think there are more important things" to deal with, she said. "This law could lead to even more polarization in society and bigger risks to children from the LGBT community."
Even some of the politicians who talk about "propaganda" admit that it does not exist in Bulgaria, Simona added, and "this pseudo-law is only supposed to prevent it."
Lawmakers also voted on another amendment to the education law, which defines "nontraditional sexual orientation" as "different from the generally accepted and established notions...[of] attraction between persons of opposite sexes."
The text also passed but with a smaller majority.
Both legal changes have to be approved by the president before becoming law.
Another protester, Sanya, who also preferred to only give her first name, said that the arguments she had heard from lawmakers supporting the ban were based on "fictional images" of people succumbing to propaganda and then adopting a new sexual orientation.
Protester Sanya said that Bulgarian lawmakers "are talking about things that do not exist."
"I haven't heard of a single case of an adult or a child [being subjected to propaganda] and becoming gay," Sanya, 35, told RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service.
"All the speeches we heard...in parliament have no connection to reality. [Lawmakers] are talking about things that do not exist. These fears are just fears. LGBT people just want to live happily and peacefully," she said.
Supporters of the amendments have said that they reflect the spirit of Bulgaria's constitution, which stipulates that marriage is only between a man and a woman and is based on Orthodox Christian values.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church welcomed the amendments in a statement published on August 8.
Many rights groups have criticized the amendments, saying that they are "an attack" on children's rights.
"The proponents of the law, the Revival party, and all those who voted in favor of the law claim that this is to protect young people," LGBT advocacy group ILGA-Europe said in a statement.
"However, the truth is that this is an attack on the rights of children, particularly LGBTI children," the statement said.
Domestic and international LGBT groups have said that the wording of the Bulgarian legal changes has similarities to "LGBT propaganda" laws in Russia and Hungary, which have been criticized by rights groups for violating freedom of expression and promoting discrimination and abuse against LGBT people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law against the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" among minors in 2013. The law has led to the censoring of movies and commercials, the targeting of activists, and the closure of organizations that support the LGBT community.
In Hungary, a 2021 law enacted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing administration prohibits children under the age of 18 from accessing media that "promotes or portrays deviation from [gender] identity aligning with sex at birth, gender reassignment, or homosexuality." The law also restricts sexual education in schools.
At the Sofia demonstrations, organized by local LGBT rights and activist groups, protesters held banners saying "Bulgaria is no Russia" and "Silence means death."
"The adopted legal texts [in Bulgaria] deny the existence of an entire group of children, directly violating both their rights and the right of every child to live free from violence," the National Network for Children, a Bulgarian alliance of civil society organizations, said in a statement.
"They have imposed an extremely dangerous ideology based on hatred of difference and create the preconditions for the dehumanization of every human being considered different for any reason," the alliance said, adding that such laws could lead to the imposition of authoritarian rule.
Protesters and rights group have called on Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to veto the amendments. He has not yet commented on his intentions but has 14 days to sign the law.
Researchers and human rights organizations routinely place Bulgaria among the worst countries in Europe for its record on LGBT rights.
Many Bulgarians' views on LGBT people are still dominated by traditional stereotypes, a 2023 study by the Sofia-based Alpha Research concluded. However, the study added that "opinions are changing, mainly because of people's personal experiences and contact with the issue."