Open letter to Korneliya Ninova in relation to the upcoming exhibition ‘Homosoc’ by the GLAS Foundation

Dear Mrs. Ninova, Honorable Members of the Executive Bureau,

In the month of September 9, we would like to invite you to the opening of the exhibition “Homosoc – Homosexuality during Communism in Bulgaria, 1945-1989”, which is going to take place on September 30, at 7 pm, in the Port A Gallery (5 Triaditsa Str., Sofia).

Very little is known about homosexuality in Bulgaria during communism and the attitude of the authorities towards homosexuals, and often the data is limited to rumors and unconfirmed gossip. Over the past months, the GLAS Foundation, together with the European Cultural Foundation and the US Embassy in Bulgaria, have conducted research on the subject based on a variety of sources. Historians, sociologists, students, curators and artists have taken part in the project to provide a summary of the period.

Mrs. Ninova, as you say in your letter to Sofia Pride in 2018, I quote: “We are against violence and discrimination against everyone, including LGBTI people. They are free to choose how to live their lives. I would be glad for you to attend the official opening of the exhibition so that you can witness that, both under the communist regime and now, homosexuals are not free to live their lives as they choose, and discrimination against them has been and is still strong today.

We think it is right for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), as the heir to the transformed Bulgarian Communist Party, to read this page of Bulgarian history as well. And it is not only negative. Along with the terror and the repression of the personal freedom and dignity, in 1968 Bulgaria decriminalizes homosexuality, which puts it much ahead of the current liberal democracies.

We hope that this example, as well as the whole exhibition, will inspire you to lead the BSP on the path of progress and to follow the European Socialist Party, which firmly stands on the side of LGBT people’s equality and personal freedom.

Respectfully,
Simeon Vassilev
President, GLAS Foundation