In 2008 and 2009, there were many debates on several national TV stations on the subject of registered partnerships with the participation of politicians, religious leaders, gay activists and others individuals. As of April 2009, there was a debate about introducing same-sex registered partnerships in Bulgaria. The Government had suggested that the National Assembly vote in favor of the new Family Code, which was supposed to include registered partnerships. These unions would not have been open to same-sex couples. However, on July 16, 2008, the Commission for Protection against Discrimination in Bulgaria suggested that the right to registered partnerships should be extended to same-sex couples as well. The Catholic Church subsequently announced their opposition to recognising registered partnerships, expressing fears that legally recognising registered partnerships for both different-sex and same-sex couples would "weaken" and "jeopardise" the institution of marriage. Some opponents further stated that the Family Code would legalise incest and polygamy despite the draft code explicitly prohibiting both. Finally, on June 12, 2009, after two years of debating, the new Family Code was passed without the section about registered partnerships for both same- and opposite-sex couples. In 2012, debates began again about whether the Family Code should recognise registered partnerships, and provide cohabiting couples with several rights available to married couples including the right to adopt, the contraction of joint credits and providing consent for medical treatment. Opponents claimed that legalising registered partnerships would "weaken" marriage, that it was against the morals of Bulgaria and that it would "confuse" children, while supporters claimed that it would protect families who choose not to marry, as well as children in such families. According to the National Statistics Institute, about 59% of all Bulgarian children born in 2012 were born to unmarried parents.
Same-sex marriage
The Bulgarian Constitution explicitly prohibits the recognition of same-sex marriage. Thus, the only way to legalise same-sex marriage in Bulgaria is to amend the Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament on three occasions. In 2017, a Bulgarian same-sex couple, Lily Babulkova and Darina Koilova, who married in the United Kingdom, filed a lawsuit in order to have their marriage recognised. The Sofia Administrative Court rejected their case in January 2018. However, a group of lawyers from the LGBT organization Deystvie have filed an appeal of the decision, and have begun collecting public signatures in support of the couple's lawsuit.
On June 5, 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that European Union member states must recognise the freedom of movement and residency rights of same-sex spouses, provided one partner is an EU citizen. The Court ruled that EU member states may choose whether or not to allow same-sex marriage, but they cannot obstruct the freedom of residence of an EU citizen and their spouse. Furthermore, the Court ruled that the term "spouse" is gender-neutral, and that it does not necessarily imply a person of the opposite sex. Citing the ruling, a Sofia court granted a same-sex couple the right to live in Bulgaria on 29 June 2018. The couple, an Australian woman and her French spouse, had married in France in 2016, but were denied residency in Bulgaria a year later when they attempted to renew their residency status, which had been previously granted under the EU mobility directive. In January 2019, Bulgarian immigration officials appealed the decision. However, on 25 July 2019, the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria upheld the lower court ruling. The couple's lawyer, Denitsa Lyubenova, said the move could be an important first step toward the legalization of same-sex marriage in Bulgaria.
Public opinion
The 2015 Eurobarometer found that 17% of Bulgarians supported same-sex marriage. This was the lowest support among all of the EU's member states, and only a 2% change from the 2006 Eurobarometer, where 15% of Bulgarians expressed support for same-sex marriage. The 2019 Eurobarometer found that 16% of Bulgarians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, 74% were against.
