site.btaSurvey: More Bulgarians Know about Problems and Rights of LGBTI Community

A national survey of the Alpha Research Agency, conducted in the autumn of 2023 and commissioned by the GLAS Foundation, found an increased awareness of Bulgarian citizens about LGBTI people, their problems, rights and motivation, said Genoveva Petrova from Alpha Research. She presented the survey during an event organized by the GLAS Foundation.

The survey is part of a project "Voices of the Community", implemented by the GLAS Foundation, in partnership with the Bilitis Foundation, the Association of European Journalists-Bulgaria and Oslo Pride, and with financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The data are from a survey representative of the adult population of the country, conducted in November 2023 among a sample of 1,000 people using a direct tablet interview method.

Between 2019 and 2023, two studies were carried out. The data show that the share of those declaring a deliberate interest and, respectively, being better informed, increased from 24% to 28%. There is also a significant increase in the share of Bulgarians who have not actively sought information but have been reached by various media publications: from 48% in 2019 to 67% four years later, Petrova said. Sofia and big city residents, women, the youngest (18-29) and middle generations (40-49) stand out with the highest awareness, she added.

The leading sources of information are conversations with friends and acquaintances - 38%, social networking posts (33%) are second, and third are news broadcasts in the media (30%) and information/news websites (29%). However, the credibility of information sources is extremely important, Petrova stressed. For three of the top sources, the survey found a high degree of trust. These are conversations with relatives, news broadcasts in the media, and news websites. The fourth actively used information channel is social media posts, which in turn have a significantly lower degree of trust.

One of the factors that strongly influence attitudes towards LGBTI people is personal experience in communicating with them, Petrova explained. Survey data show that 35% of people say they know people who identify as homosexual, 25% - bisexual, 6% know someone who identifies as LGBTI. Some 15% said they personally know same-sex couples, another 32% said they know of such people.

In general, the attitudes of Bulgarians towards LGBTI people are predominantly neutral, Petrova said. However, the most commonly shared negative association by 24% of people is "parading their difference". Personal communication with LGBTI people and better familiarity are also prerequisites for more understanding of the problems they face. As an example, Petrova pointed out that 68% believe that if there is a student with a homosexual orientation in the upper grades at school, he would be a target of ridicule, against 8% who believe that he would influence others to choose such an identity.

According to the majority of respondents, LGBTI people face hostile attitudes in various life situations. According to 47% there is such treatment when openly declaring identity, according to 46% when in public, 36% when raising a child, 33% at school, 31% when looking for a job.

At the same time, there is a trend towards a weakening of the influence of extremely hostile and openly manipulative theses, the dissemination of which also served to stigmatize LGBTI people.