Sofia Pride

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Sofia Pride Parade is a peaceful march of LGBT people and their relatives and friends, which combines social and political protest with entertainment such as live concerts. It takes place every year in the month of June in Bulgaria's capital Sofia since 2008. The first Sofia Pride parade was held on June 28, 2008, on the same date as the Stonewall riots in New York City that occurred in 1969. Same-sex sexual activity became legal on May 1, 1968. Between 1968 and the collapse of communism in 1989, no publicly gay movements nor places of social gatherings existed. After democracy was established in 1990, several gay bars and clubs opened doors in the capital of Sofia as well as in Varna and Plovdiv.

Some consider it the most massive public demonstration in support of human rights in Bulgaria, articulating a protest against xenophobia and a way to show LGBT friends and relatives love and support but also as an inspiration for confidence and pride in LGBT people and all minorities who feel oppressed and suffer from society's prejudice. While the event is supported by many national and international partners and representatives of the diplomatic community in Bulgaria as well as Human Rights Organizations, it also polarizes. Many citizens consider the Sofia Pride a provocation and an unnecessary spectacle, claiming the event has little purpose but to offend.

In 1992 BGO Gemini, the up until then biggest gay non-profit organization in Bulgaria, was founded, giving gay people some representation and visibility. It ceased operations in 2009. The main LGBT rights organization in Bulgaria right now is "Action" ("Действие" in Bulgarian).^[1] The non-profit has over 4500 fans on Facebook as of January 2017.^[2]

Since 2012 the Sofia Pride is organized by a committee consisting of volunteers and independent NGOs. The administrative face of the event is Bilitis Resource Center Foundation.

In 2019, around 6000 attendees marched on the gay pride parade.^[3][4]