Over the past four days, protests organized by LGBT and feminist collectives have occurred in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and the port city Varna.

Other demonstrations organized by Bulgarians abroad are set to take place later this week in Berlin and Paris.

The moves aim to pressure the Bulgarian president, Rumen Radev, to veto a bill amending the Pre-School and School Education Act.

The amendment was drafted by the pro-Russian Revival party and passed by the Bulgarian parliament last week. It prohibits “propaganda, promotion or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and determination of sex identity other than biological” in schools.

135 MPs out of 240 voted for the change, despite the country’s repeated failure to form a new government following an inconclusive general election in June.

A petition to the president, started by teachers and circulated by feminist collectives, argues that the bill is vague and could result in bullying and discrimination against LGBT children. They are also worried that teachers could be fired if they don’t toe the government’s line.

The petition calls for “clear and unequivocal commitments to prevent and address bullying and violence in schools”.

Stoyo Tetevenski from Lev Fem, a Bulgarian left-wing, feminist organization, told TVP World: “This law followed as a continuation of the anti-LGBTI+ wave in the last few years.”

Tetevenski also cited “the shattered political system in Bulgaria” as a factor that contributed to the passing of the bill, as well as recent transphobic debates in some media coverage of the Olympics. For instance, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has a strong build, was “accused” of being a man and therefore cheating by taking part in women’s events.

In an interview with Bulgarian news outlet Blitz, the chairman of the Association of Secondary Education Principals, Asen Alexandrov, said: “We are worried because it is not clear how exactly to apply the legal changes.”

He continued: “If a high school student declares to his classmates that he has a different sexual orientation, what do we do? If someone else makes fun of such children, what do we do? If we protect them, does that mean we are propagating this orientation?”

Bulgaria is the second European Union country, following Hungary in 2021, to enact such a law.