The Soviet Army Monument downtown Sofia saw a morning, covered with the flag of tolerance during the Sofia Pride march a few days ago. One could hardly find a better article than the one from the Ne!Novinite /Not!News/ satirical website, published last year and republished this one, reading the following title: Public Tempers Against Military Parade: ”We are Tolerant, but Not In Front of the Kids!” The mocking text describes the negative attitude of the average Sofia citizens against military men and saying things such as: “Don’t get me wrong. I have friends in the army and I have nothing against them.” And also: “Anyone could be whatever he or she wants to be during workhours. But these demonstrations are seen by children. This is sick!” and so on, and so forth. On one hand we have an absurd situation, described ironically, but on the other dozens of commentaries defend men in uniform underneath the article. May be this is the charm of the situation.

However, let’s get back to Sofia Pride. If we replace the word military with homosexual in the sentences quoted above, those were precisely the words of the anti-gay march’s supporters, united this year by the Let’s Prevent Kids from Perversion slogan. Yes, it was a sick parade, if you count smiling people, pop music, dances, good mood, colorful clothes and the will for more tolerance – those are perhaps all inadmissiblein the context of kids’ eyes. And the pride was full of children without any of them looking embarrassed or nervous. People from all ages, all sexes and sexual orientations attended the event. Only the sticker lady looked a bit inacceptable with trousers and pieces of tapes wrapped around her upperside, instead of a blouse. The woman looked awful, but obviously she expressed herself and that was a part of the march’s idea…

So, for the 9^th time in a row the Sofia Pride human rights promoting tour filled in Sofia’s streets with a colorful river of people, kids, dogs and flags, headed by a sound vehicle. The whole thing was really gay and very positive. At the same time the angry anti-march tried to preserve “the morality of the Bulgarian family and children without allowing the desecration of the Bulgarian Christian values”. A scratchy slogan read: Don’t Be Tolerant, Be Normal! However, the thick wall of policemen prevented any serious conflicts, only a few sprayed in different colors and a few insulted people shared the same bench in the police headquarters later on in the evening. The website of the anti-protesters which had gathered reinforcements depicted portraits of Bulgarian revolutionaries, insulting epithets and affective commentaries, aimed at anyone, daring to defend Sofia Pride. A quote: “Be careful, sodomite, or you’re gonna need a doctor!” The counter-meeting was even more affected by the coincidence of the pride with this year’s All Souls’ Day. Even the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Neophyte commented in a negative manner this coincidence, calling homosexuality “a way of life being intruded as propaganda”.

At the same time, the Red Army trooper statues held the flag of tolerance and the pride’s participants honored with a minute of silence the victims of the Orlando assault. Then the feast went on. Any serious clash between the two groups was avoided, perhaps due to the enhanced police presence, perhaps because a barking dog never bites, or it was simply the heat.

Sofia Pride did bring a lot of positive emotions this year, but let’s hope that any sticker or tape clothing fashion trends will be avoided in the future…

English version: Zhivko Stanchev