A short story on background of the Bulgarian gay scene. |
21years ago the political situation in Bulgaria was much different than now. It was difficult to be openly gay. After the 10th of November 1989, our country opened a new democratic page in its history. Until then the country had had a communist government for 45 years. There were no gay discos or clubs. The law chased people with homosexual orientation. Nowadays LGBT people in Bulgaria have more and more freedom to express their natural feelings and desires. The mentality of the older generation is still very conservative, but the younger generation is quite broad-minded. The future of the Bulgarian gay scene looks very optimistic. More and more gay venues are being opened, especially in the capital - the city of Sofia.
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At the moment, Bulgaria has a very deep economic crisis. Since July 1, 1997 the country is a part of an international currency board ( the domestic currency LEV is pegged to EUR at a fixed rate of 2 Bulgarian LEVA for 1 EUR). Bulgaria is the poorest country in the EU.The standard of life is getting lower and lower. The minimum pension is 73 EUR and minimum work salary is 140 EUR. However some of the price of goods and services are already higher than the ones in western EU members countries. Most of the people (more than 70%) live in absolute poverty. People work hard just to have the basic food to survive.In the provinces (smaller towns and villages) a salary of 100 euro is average. One loaf of bread now costs around 40 Euro cents. Often to make ends meet, people produce their own bread and exchange goods (non-existing monetary system). Meals at most restaurant cost around 10 euro per person. Our currency, the LEV, is expected to be replaced by the Euro not soon, in 2013 the earliest.
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The low cost airlines that started flights to Bulgaria are: Easyjet,Germanwings, Myair,Wizzair. However, Bulgaria is still a cheap holiday destination. After the 11th of September 2001, Bulgarian resorts are seen more as a place for holiday, especially with short flight times from the rest of Europe.Bulgaria - another Gay destination in Europe...Why not? Wonderful summer & winter international resorts. Cheap service.Since the 1st of January 2004 Bulgaria adopted an anti-discrimination law, protecting very well the LGBT people in the country. Bulgaria(the City of Sofia & Capital hosted the Annual meeting of ILGA-Europe in October 2006) . In 2016 , Sofia is possible to be a host of the EGLSF Eurogames Champs.
"gay map"
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