Gender Reassignment Bill Fails in Bulgaria: MPs Clash Over Child Protection Proposals

Bulgarian MPs have declined to back a bill proposed by the "There Is Such a People" party (TISP) that aimed to prohibit advertising and medical procedures for gender reassignment for individuals under 18. Meanwhile, "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (WCC-DB) abstained from voting on three of its own proposed amendments to the Child Protection Act. TISP's proposal sought to extend state protection to children aged 16 to 18 who are not in education and to impose penalties of 1 to 3 years of imprisonment for anyone providing medical prescriptions or procedures for gender change to minors.

Following the initial failed vote, TISP's Toshko Yordanov took to the podium to accuse the GERB party of supporting "gay-oriented propaganda" from WCC-DB. In another development, the deputies dismissed three draft laws from WCC-DB aimed at amending the Child Protection Act. One of these proposals, introduced by Elisaveta Belobradova, sought to ensure that children are protected from "political propaganda, untruths, and pre-election actions," and proposed the concept of "genomic sex."

Prof. Andrey Chorbanov from TISP criticized Belobradova's suggestion, calling it "insane," asserting that "gender is gender" and that gender does not relate to genomics (ed. note: gender and sex are the same word in Bulgarian language: пол/pol). WCC-DB's legislation permitted gender reassignment under life-threatening conditions, prompting Georgi Ivanov from "Revival" to label WCC-DB a "pro-pedophile coalition," which drew a reprimand from National Assembly Speaker Raya Nazaryan for his inflammatory language. The bill did not pass, with WCC-DB abstaining from the vote.

Another WCC-DB proposal, presented by Bozhidar Bozhanov, aimed to enhance existing laws regarding sexual offenses against children, introducing stricter restrictions for individuals with convictions for such crimes and requiring background checks for anyone working with children. This bill, which also sought to regulate online child protection, was not adopted, with WCC-DB abstaining once again.

A third draft law by Katya Paneva aimed to ensure the protection of children and doctors in the context of established medical issues. However, this proposal also failed to pass, with WCC-DB abstaining from the vote.

After the voting concluded, TISP accused GERB and WCC-DB of "collusion" regarding the changes to the Child Protection Act, while "Revival" reiterated its accusations against WCC-DB for promoting propaganda within schools.