Opinion┃One winner in the Bulgarian elections: Opponents of women’s and LGBTQ+ rights

From Central Europe to Central Asia, democratic governance continues to decline and create favourable conditions for the promotion of illiberal ideals. With an extremist, far-right party climbing in the polls with each election in Bulgaria, advocates against gender equality and transgender rights in the country could take the floor to set a dangerous public policy agenda in the coming year. 

In the absence of stable governance, radicalism has thrived in Bulgaria, with the pro-Kremlin Revival party (Възраждане, Vazrazhdane) climbing to third  place in last month’s elections while spreading fundamentally anti-democratic rhetoric against the rights of women and LGBTQ+ persons. 

Amid governance failures, radicalism takes root 

Just four years ago, Bulgaria seemed to be on the verge of a democratic breakthrough when sweeping anti-corruption protests forced the ruling party to step down. But protestors’ calls for reform have since gone unheard and the country has instead been plunged into political chaos. 

While experts and large swathes of the public hoped that Bulgaria’s 2020 protests were a moment of democratic transformation, genuine anger over a corrupt system of governance also helped mobilise citizens. A series of scandals resulted in grave institutional failings, from water shortages to inadequate pandemic preparedness. Fed up with what many called a “mafia state,” protestors demanded not just resignations, but an overhaul of the justice system to hold elites accountable for years of self-enrichment that came at the expense of citizens’ health and safety. 

Political parties’ inability to address these grievances in the years since has only stoked further discontent. With just two short-lived governments formed in the last four years, Bulgaria’s necessary judicial reform has yet to be realised. Even a promising package of laws promoted in 2023 was struck down by the Constitutional Court this June.

In the meantime, corruption allegations have only mounted, weighing down an increasingly fragmented political party scene and polarised public. It was no surprise, then, that Bulgaria entered its seventh elections in four years on 27 October with 72% of citizens dissatisfied with their democracy. And the plummeting voter turnout speaks for itself.

Radical parties like Revival have been able to ride this wave of anti-establishment sentiment to electoral success, filling the vacuum created by major parties’ shortcomings and Bulgaria’s chronic instability. Though founded in 2014 as a quasi-political party, quasi-social movement, Revival gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic with its staunch anti-vaccination position, at a time when the Bulgarian government was failing to respond to the public health crisis. 

Revival’s meteoric rise: An affront to women’s and LGBTQ+ rights

Entering parliament for the first time in 2021, the Revival party’s broader platform has been described by experts as populist, ultranationalist, and Eurosceptic. But until recently, observers had underestimated their anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. In August, on Revival’s prompting, the Bulgarian parliament passed a vaguely worded law banning LBGT+ “propaganda, promotion, or incitement” in schools, which senior leaders at the European Parliament’s LGBTI Intergroup argue puts LGBTQ+ youth at risk of serious threats to their health and well-being.

Gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights have already had a strained history in Bulgaria. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against allowing transgender individuals to change their identity on official documentation and also effectively banned same-sex couples from both being registered on a child’s birth certificate.

Domestic violence has remained high on the public agenda over the last two years due to a series of protests against a surge in femicides. The issue has been highly contentious since 2018 when the Bulgarian Constitutional Court declared the Istanbul Convention, which opposes violence against  women, unconstitutional due to the treaty defining gender as a social construct and not a biological binary. The ruling was seen as a major advocacy achievement for increasingly prominent “anti-gender” activists, including ultra-conservative civic organisations and religious groups like Freedom for All and Parents United for Children. 

Since 2018, many of these groups have seen their footprints grow, as like-minded politicians settle into mainstream politics and legitimise stances against the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, far-right demonstrators associated with the Revival party blocked a film screening at the Sofia Pride Film Fest. With allies in established parties like the Bulgarian Socialists as well as newcomers like Revival, these groups may see increasing policy leverage. 

Given its strong performance in the last elections, the Revival party may be emboldened to further restrict women’s and LGBTQ+ rights with anti-democratic legislation. The party has already attempted — for the fourth time — to push through a Russian-style “foreign agents” law, which would allow it to target organisations that protect Bulgaria’s LGBTQ+ youth.

Beyond Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s experience — from hopeful breakthrough to governance breakdown — is a warning to other fragile democracies in Southeastern and Central Europe. When governments prove incapable of addressing public demands for accountability, radical forces have the chance to infiltrate public discourse, impact policy, and undermine the very principles of human rights and democracy.