LGBT people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) in Bulgaria face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex relationships are legal in Bulgaria, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has been banned since 2004, with discrimination based on "gender change" being outlawed since 2015. In July 2019, a Bulgarian court recognized a same-sex marriage performed in France in a landmark ruling. For 2020, Bulgaria was ranked 37 of 49 European countries for LGBT rights protection by ILGA-Europe. Like most countries in Central and Eastern Europe, post-Communist Bulgaria holds socially conservative attitudes when it comes to such matters as homosexuality and transgender people.
Legality of same-sex sexual activity
Before the Liberation
Homosexuality was legalized in 1858 in all parts of Ottoman Empire. After the Liberation of Bulgaria, however, homosexuality was recriminalized with the adoption of a new constitution in 1879.
1878–1968
Following the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, the country's Penal Code came into force on 1 May 1896, and homosexual acts between males over 16 years of age became punishable by at least six months of imprisonment. The Penal Code of 13 March 1951 increased the penalty to up to three years in jail. The revised Penal Code of 1 May 1968 removed the sections outlawing homosexual acts.
July 1964 trial
In July 1964, 26 men were arrested and accused of having "perverted homosexual relationships". Some of the arrested were the famous actor Georgi Partsalev and one of the most loved Bulgarian singers, Emil Dimitrov. Experts say that the process was a masquerade for the public so that "people will understand how decadent the Western culture is". In the 1960s, there were a couple of other similar cases which again involved some of Bulgaria's elite. Later in 1966, when revising the Penal Code, a group of "experts" decided that homosexual acts would no longer be considered a crime because lesbians and gays "are ill people, who shouldn't be punished because of the sufferings they are already going through (due to their illness)". On 1 May 1968, the Penal Code was revised, and homosexuality became legal.
Since 2002, the age of consent has been 14, regardless of the sexes of the consenting parties.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
In September 2023, the European court of human rights says that Bulgaria not recognising same-sex couples is an "infringement of human rights". This case is subject to appeals and awaiting a government response. Since 1991, Article 46 of the Bulgarian Constitution has defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, therefore explicitly banning same-sex marriage. The Constitution does not ban civil unions or other forms of relationship recognition.
In 2012, on the question if same-sex couples will soon have further rights like the right to marry or adopt children, now-former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said: "for something [like this] to happen, society needs to become ready for it." There have been several debates on whether to recognise civil unions or registered partnerships, which would grant same-sex couples some of the rights and benefits of marriage, including the right to inherit, to make medical decisions, to own property together; all of which are currently denied to same-sex couples.
In 2017, a Bulgarian same-sex couple, who married in the United Kingdom, filed a lawsuit in order to have their marriage recognised. The Sofia Administrative Court rejected their case in January 2018. However, lawyers from the Bulgarian LGBT organisation Deystvie (Действие) appealed against this decision. Deystvie has begun public collecting signatures in favor of their appeal.
Citing Coman and Others v General Inspectorate for Immigration and Ministry of the Interior, a case originating from Romania in which the European Court of Justice ruled that same-sex couples must be granted full residency rights in all EU countries, a Sofia court granted a same-sex couple the right to live in Bulgaria on 29 June 2018. The couple, an Australian woman and her French wife, had married in France in 2016, but were denied residency in Bulgaria a year later when they attempted to move there.