site.btaGallup Poll: Bulgarians Divided over Whether Propaganda of Non-traditional Sexual Orientation Is Carried Out in Schools

Bulgarians can be described as divided over whether propaganda of ideas and views of non-traditional sexual orientation is carried out in the country's schools, according to a nationwide representative survey commissioned by Bulgarian National Television and conducted by Gallup International Balkan, which was unveiled on Monday, at the start of the new school year.

A little over 39% of respondents say they fear that such propaganda exists in schools. Another 32.2% have no worries about such propaganda, and 28.7% say they have not heard about the debates on related legislative initiatives in the National Assembly.

An additional question about teachers confirms the impression that the public is divided over whether propaganda of ideas and views of non-traditional sexual orientation is carried out in schools, Gallup says. Some 36.8% of respondents fear that teachers are engaged in such propaganda, and 28% have no worries of this nature. A considerable share of 35.6% of respondents say they have not heard of such an issue.

Those who worry that the situations referred to in the two questions do exist tend to be people aged between 30 and 65 years, Gallup says.

The polling agency comments that the significant shares of hesitant and uninformed respondents to both questions show a need for a broader public debate among all social groups and stakeholders if society wants to keep division from growing into stronger polarization.

The face-to-face survey was conducted between August 28 and September 5 among 802 respondents using tablet computers. The sample is representative of Bulgaria's adult population. For a share of 50%, the margin of error is 3.5%. One per cent of the sample stands for 54,000 adult Bulgarians.