Open letter to the ambassadors who supported Sofia Pride 2018

– “Gender identity”, unlike “sexual orientation”, is not recognized as anti-discrimination ground in any bindinglegal text of the UN, the Council of Europe and the EU[2], including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that you refer to in your message.

– The concept of “gender identity” formulated in the Yogyakarta Principles (2006)[3]and the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10 (2017)[4]has never been publicly debated and democratically accepted in the member states of the UN, the Council of Europe, and the EU. There is no public consensus on this kind of political manifesto for new public values ​​and a society of the future. 

– „Gender identity“has never been and is currently not a common European value.

– The historically first and only binding legal text in relation to „gender identity“as generally valid anti-discrimination ground is the so-called Istanbul convention[5] which currently has been not ratified by Bulgaria and 14 others member states of the Council of Europe [6].
 
– Your support to Sofia Pride 2018 and its political demands [7] for redefining marriage and adoption from same-sex couples are not only interference in areas that are not Your jurisdiction (which is a violation of Art. 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations [8]) but represent also indirect pressure for changing the Bulgarian Constitution. Fourteen EU member states define marriage as a “union between one man and one woman”. Six of these countries, including Bulgaria, have accepted this definition in their Constitutions. The undermining of the constitutional definition of marriage is unacceptable to the principles upon which the European Union is founded, namely respect for cultural, religious, and national diversity.
 
The future of Bulgaria – our children – are unthinkable without their mothers and fathers. We want the Bulgarian society and especially our children to live in a country where family values are promoted, and which encourages the building of healthy and happy families.
 
We look forward to Your future joint messages to comply with the international bindinghuman rights law and fully respect the principle of subsidiarity of the EU and Bulgaria’s sovereignty in domestic matters, related to marriage, family, parent’s rights, education, and health care.
 
Sincerely,
 
Mrs. Mihaela Djorgova, Association Society and Values, [email protected]
Mr. Ivaylo Tinchev, March for the Family Sofia, [email protected]
Mr. Dimitar Spilkov, March for the Family Plovdiv, [email protected]
Mrs. Dimitrina Ivanova, March for the Family,Varna, [email protected]
Mrs. Nelly Toncheva, March for the Family Burgas. [email protected]
Mrs. Daniela Ilieva, March for the Family Russe, [email protected]
 
 
June 20, 2018

[1]http://www.finland.bg/public/default.aspx?contentid=376062&nodeid=34796&culture=en-US

[2]Except directive 2012/29/EU relative only to victims of crime, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32012L0029&from=EN

[3]http://yogyakartaprinciples.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/principles_en.pdf

[4]http://yogyakartaprinciples.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/A5_yogyakartaWEB-2.pdf

[5]Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, 12.11.2011, https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/rms/090000168008482e

[6]https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/210/signatures?p_auth=TxE1MVV9

[7]https://sofiapride.org/celi-na-praida/

[8]http://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf

OPEN LETTER TO:
 
H.E. Mr. Roland Hauser, Ambassador of Austria
H.E. Mrs. Kate Logan, Ambassador of Australia in Athens 
H.E. Mr. François Bontemps, Ambassador of Belgium  
H.E. Mrs. Ana Maria Sampaio Fernandes, Ambassador of Brazil 
H.E. Mr. Kevin Hamilton, Ambassador of Canada 
H.E. Mrs. Ljerka Alajberg, Ambassador of Croatia 
H.E. Mr. Stavros Avgoustides, Ambassador of Cyprus 
H.E. Mr. Søren Jacobsen, Ambassador of Denmark 
H.E. Mrs. Päivi Blinnikka, Ambassador of Finland 
H.E. Mr. Éric Lebédel, Ambassador of France 
H.E. Mr. Herbert Salber, Ambassador of Germany 
H.E. Mr. Michael Forbes, Ambassador of Ireland  
H.E. Mrs. Irit Lillian, Ambassador of Israel  
H.E. Mr. Stefano Baldi, Ambassador of Italy 
H.E. Mr. Ronald Dofing, Ambassador of Luxembourg 
H.E. Mrs. Bea ten Tusscher, Ambassador of the Netherlands 
H.E. Mr. Gregory Michael Andrews, Ambassador of New Zealand 
H.E. Mrs. Louise Bergholm, Ambassador of Sweden  
H.E. Mr. Javier Perez-Griffo, Ambassador of Spain  
H.E. Mrs. Emma Hopkins, Ambassador of the United Kingdom  
H.E. Mr. Eric Rubin Ambassador of the United States of America 
 
 
COPY TO:
 
Mr. Rumen Radev, President of Bulgaria
Mrs. Ekaterina Zaharieva, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mrs. Maia Manolova, Ombudsman of Bulgaria
Ms. Maria Jesus Conde, Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Mr. Mathijs Le Rutte, Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Mr. Daniel Kaddik, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom