Position of the Amalipe Center regarding changes in the Pre-school and School Education Act and other legislative acts restricting the freedom of teachers, active youth, parents, and NGOs

The Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance strongly disagrees with the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act adopted by the 50th National Assembly on August 7, 2024. These changes prohibit “propaganda, popularization, and incitement in any form, directly or indirectly, of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or defining gender identity other than biological.” We are deeply concerned about these amendments for several reasons:

1. Firstly, they are likely to restrict or self-censor the ability of teachers to address important topics in classrooms related to diversity in family and sexual relationships, social roles, prejudices, and stereotypes regarding gender, sexual orientation, family, and roles within it. It is troubling that “ideas and views” are being banned at a legislative level. This will lead to self-censorship among many educators, which contradicts the democratic nature of Bulgarian education and its goal to shape responsible citizens.

Moreover, these topics concern a significant portion of young people, and it is crucial for them to receive scientific arguments in school rather than leaving these discussions to youth groups or the streets. It is important for teachers to engage in these issues with students rather than providing dogmatic and memorized responses referring to the ban on providing any information on the topic.

2. Furthermore, the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act also threaten to sanction teachers who teach topics that indirectly touch on the aforementioned issues. For instance, literature teachers may be forced to exclude 23 songs from the “Iliad” because they discuss Achilles’ love for Patroclus; history teachers may have to stop teaching certain aspects of Ancient Greek and Roman history, and so on.

3. It is highly likely that these amendments will lead to self-censorship among teachers in teaching important topics of civic education related to tolerance, stereotypes, and prejudices, not only concerning LGBTI individuals but also other vulnerable groups such as traditional minorities (Roma and Turks), migrants, Muslims, etc. Teaching tolerance and human rights applies to all groups, not just some of them. Additionally, we expect that the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act will be followed by similar additions and/or campaigns against all groups facing discrimination, intolerance, etc.

4. As the Amalipe Center and colleagues from other educational organizations, we are organizing various activities to increase civic engagement among young people. This is crucial as schools, together with us, prepare active citizens. However, after the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act, these efforts are under serious threat as schools may face sanctions and refuse to organize such activities because they may be indirectly linked to stereotypes and prejudices regarding sexual orientation, LGBTI individuals, etc.

5. As mentioned above, it is entirely possible that the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act will lead to subsequent restrictive legislation. Texts proposing such measures are already being discussed. Former parliamentarians from the Velichie parliamentary group have submitted texts requiring sanctions and suspension of teaching rights for 2 years for teachers who violate or are deemed to violate the Pre-school and School Education Act in its amendments from August 7, 2024. The PP of ITN propose changes to the Child Protection Act requiring “exposure, presentation, offer, or in any other way dissemination within the premises of pre-school and school institutions, as well as in other public places visited by children outside school hours, of information or other materials with content that does not correspond to the understanding of gender of physical persons as a biological category” (Signature 50-454-01-61). This is presented as a violation similar to the sale of alcohol and tobacco products.

6. It is particularly concerning that the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act were not preceded by broad public discussion. On the contrary, they were adopted on first and second reading within one day, which is usually an exception and often leads to highly controversial legislative acts. These texts were proposed 3 or 4 times in previous parliaments by the Vuzrazhdane PP and were rejected each time. Their acceptance without broad public discussion is a serious factual intervention in the principles of public consultations and the actual participation of interested parties.

There are no public consultations on proposals to amend the Child Protection Act, as well as new proposals for the Pre-school and School Education Act. This is an extremely worrying fact and it alone is sufficient for their rejection!

The Amalipe Center responded immediately to the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act and proposals for other restrictive legislative changes through:

1. A brief analysis of the threats posed by the changes made. See it here.
2. We sent a letter to President Radev urging him to veto the amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act, presenting additional arguments drawn from our work with hundreds of schools, thousands of teachers, and hundreds of active youth. At the same time, we supported the letter of the “Together Against Violence” coalition to President Radev with a similar request.
3. We sent a letter to the committees in the National Assembly that will consider the proposals of ITN for amendments to the Child Protection Act. We also supported similar letters from other colleagues presenting different arguments.
4. We sent a letter to the Committee on Education and Science requesting that the additional amendments proposed by the former Velichie PP to the Pre-school and School Education Act not be approved.

We appeal to all organizations, active youth, teachersprincipals, and all democratically minded citizens to join us in opposing the growing populism and restrictive legislative changes! Let us show together that Bulgarian society has the strength to stop all negative developments that distance us from democratic principles and EU values!