Bulgaria

2018

2025

2022

The highest possible score for a country is 100, and the lowest is -15. You can expand the different sections below to understand how the score was calculated for each indicator.

Indicator scores

Anti-Discrimination Legislation Applicable to Education

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Anti-LGBTQI Measures

The Anti-Discrimination Act (2009) [101] prohibits any direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The Act defines sexual orientation as “heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual orientation.” It does not, however, specifically mention gender identity or variations in sex characteristics4. The Act provides that the Ministry of Education and Science shall take all the necessary measures to prevent discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. It specifies that educational institutions must have internal procedures to address discrimination and provide adequate information and support to people who have experienced a violation of their rights. In the case of non-fulfilment of these obligations, the head of the educational institution is liable under the Act.

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Policies and Action Plans

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

No anti-bullying policy or national action plan: 0/10 | Anti-bullying policy or national action plan covering one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

The Unified Mechanism for Counteraction against Bullying at School (2012) [102] [103], as implemented by an order of the Minister of Education and Science, obliges every school to adopt specific measures aimed to tackle bullying at school. The document includes a definition of bullying and its types (i.e., physical, psychological, sexual and cyberbullying). Civil society organisations report that the mechanism calls for the creation of educational spaces where students can openly discuss bullying and can form empathy, tolerance and respect for differences, as well as can build conflict resolution skills that prevent bullying. The Unified Mechanism does not, however, specifically mention gender identity or variations in sex characteristics. LGBTQI people are, therefore, not specifically protected by this action plan (see Data collection).

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Inclusive Compulsory Education Curricula

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

No evidence of compulsory national curricula inclusive of LGBTQI people: 0/10 | The compulsory national curricula includes representation of one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

Sex education is not part of the basic curriculum in Bulgaria and topics related to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or variations in sex characteristics are not covered. There is also no obligation for teachers to address these topics in their classes. In a recent consultative process for the introduction of new curriculum on civic and diversity education, Bilitis sent a statement to theMinistry of Education underlining the need to include specific topics related to non-discrimination of LGBTQI learners at school. The organisation offered their support to the Ministry of Education on developing specific standards for sexual diversity education, but it has not been accepted as of yet.

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Mandatory Teacher Training on LGBTQI Inclusion

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

No mention of SOGIGESC in the mandatory teacher training programme: 0/10 Mandatory teacher training program with mention of one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

There is currently no mandatory teacher training on LGBTQI awareness, and school staff have no specific in-service lessons or workshops.

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School Environment and Inclusion

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Hostile environment

Hostile school environment and no government partnership with civil society: -5/10 | There is no evidence of the government providing funding or working in partnership with civil society: 0/10 | The government provides funding and works in partnership with civil society to promote inclusive education for one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

The government provides no support to LGBTQI civil society organisations working in the area of education (see Education curricula).

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Legal Gender Recognition

/10

Legal gender recognition without self-determination

Legal gender recognition with self-determination (over 16)

Legal gender recognition with self-determination (under 16)

No gender recognition provisions: 0/10 | There are laws and provisions, but with legal/medical/psychological approval: 5/10 | There are laws for self-determination, but only for those over 16 years of age: 7,5/10 | There are laws on gender self-determination, including those under 16 years of age: 10/10

The law on Bulgarian Personal Documents (1998, amended 2010) provides that a person must submit an application for new identity documents within 30 days of changing their gender. The CivilRegistration Act provides that name and gender can only be changed through court proceedings.Most recent court cases have relied on self-identification as a primary criterion to decide applications for change of civil status. In particular, three transgender youth were granted legal gender recognition by the courts in 2016 without having to undergo sterilisation [104]. However, as there are no clear legal procedures for deciding applications for change of civil status based on gender identity and variations in sex characteristics, courts decide on a case-by-case basis.

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Data Collection on Bullying and Harassment

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

There is no evidence of national or regional data collection on bullying and harassment in education environments, or SO, GIGE and SC are not specifically mentioned: 0/10 | National or regional data on bullying and harassment in education environments is collected and disaggregated for one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

If any, data on bullying and harassment is not made public by the government. Bilitis has conducted recent research (2015) [105] to evaluate the extent to which secondary schools in Sofia provide an inclusive environment for LGBTQI students and teachers. The research entitled ‘Schools for All?’The Status of LGBTI Students and Teachers in Bulgarian Schools included an analysis of the internal school policies for prevention of discrimination, bullying, and violence; interviews of students and teachers who self-identify as gay, bisexual, or transgender; and a questionnaire for school principals. As one of the main results, the report concludes that “some forms of bullying against LGBTI are completely ‘normalised’ and neglected at school. The mocking and insulting is commonly ignored by teachers and administration”.

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Support Systems for Young People

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

There is no evidence of support systems specifically designed for LGBTQI learners: 0/10 | Direct or indirect support systems are provided by schools or local authorities, but the providers lack training in LGBTQI-related issues: 0/10 | Direct or indirect support systems are provided by schools or local authorities for one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

Local organisations (Bilitis, LGBT Deystvie Association, and GLAS Foundation) provide support to victims of bullying if approached by individual cases.

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Information and Guidelines

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Anti-LGBTQI Measures

Policies prohibiting the presence of LGBTQI-related information are in place: -5/10 | Schools are not required to adopt inclusive education guidelines: 0/10 | Information or guidelines for LGBTQI inclusion adopted by schools that mention one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

There is no specific information or guidelines for LGBTQI learners or guidance for the education sector on how to address bullying and harassment against LGBTQI students.

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International Commitments

/10

Member of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network

Ratified the UNESCO Ministerial Call to Action

Neither Member in the EFPN or ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 0/10 | Member of the EFPN or ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 5/10 | Member of the EFPN and ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 10/10

Bulgaria has not signed the Call for Action by Ministers – Inclusive and equitable education for all learners in an environment free from discrimination and violence.

Bulgaria is not a member of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network

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View the map scored by indicator

Grounds of discrimination

Here is the country's score on each ground of discrimination on which we based our observations for 8 of the 10 indicators presented above.

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

See the map scored by ground of discrimination

Country score evolution

2025

-10

/100

2022

/100

2018

/100

To enable a meaningful comparison of country progress over time, we have retroactively aligned the scoring systems used in the 2018 and 2022 Editions of IGLYO’s LGBTQI Inclusive Education Index with the updated 2025 scoring criteria.
While each edition of the research has built on the previous one, reflecting evolving standards and priorities in inclusive education, minor changes to indicators and scoring weights were introduced in 2022 and 2025 to improve clarity, consistency, and comprehensiveness.
By recalculating the earlier scores according to the 2025 framework, we have tried to ensure comparability across all three editions and provide a more accurate picture of progress, stagnation, or regression in each country’s approach to LGBTQI-inclusive education.
For this reason, you might find some scores in the PDF Report & Index 2018 and 2022 differing from those on the Education website for these two years.

Good practices

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