Sofia Pride took place for the 11th consecutive year

On June 9, 2018 the annual march for LGBTI+ visibility and equality colored Bulgaria’s capital Sofia for the eleventh time. Under the motto ‘Different People, Equal Rights’ more than 3500 colorful people went out on the streets despite the gloomy weather and some disagreements about the corporate sponsorship of the event.

This year’s music program featured popular artists and groups, including Ruth Koleva, Ivo Dimchev, Mihaela Fileva, Dancing Sofia, Yambadon, Spice Girls Tribute, Jennifer Benediction, Dead Man’s Hat Live and others.

Sofia Pride, of whose Organizing Committee is part The GLAS Foundation, continues to be the biggest annual human rights event in Bulgaria. The record number of 24 diplomatic missions, UNICEF, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the UN Refugee Agency published a joint declaration in support of the event. The declaration was supported also by the diplomatic missions of 16 EU countries as well as Australia, Brazil, Israel, Canada, Norway, the United States, Switzerland and South Africa. ‘Respect for human rights, including justice, equality, non-discrimination, freedom of expression and the rule of law, are the foundation of democratic states. These rights and protections should be equally applicable to the LGBTI people’, is stated in the document.

For the first time this year Sofia Pride’s accompanying events – also known as Sofia Pride Arts (formerly Sofia Pride Art Week), which is organized and curated by the GLAS Foundation – lasted a whole month. After the march on June 9 a retrospective of the Irish LGBT cinema from the past three years premiered in the Odeon movie theater in Sofia.