Let us tell you more about us.

Bilitis develops, supports and empowers the LGBTI community in Bulgaria.

In 2004, several gay and bisexual women formed an informal group to communicate with each other, driven by the need to be themselves and explore the diverse LGBTI culture. Thus a small cohesive community of queer women was formed and Bilitis was born, the first LGBTI organization led by women and focusing on women’s needs and rights. Monica Pisankaneva, the founder of the organization, chooses the name Bilitis. According to legends, Bilitis was the most faithful disciple of Sappho from the island of Lesbos, who continued the work of the legendary poet who extolled love between women.

Over the years, we have expanded the scope of our activities and managed to build a diverse and dedicated team. We are proud to have been part of the organizers of Sofia Pride since 2009 and to run the only LGBTI community center in Bulgaria – Rainbow Hub – together with our partners. With all our activities we strive to develop an active and united LGBTI community and believe that together we can build a more accepting and safe environment for all people in Bulgaria.

2004

Bilitis – from dream to reality!

Bilitis originated as an organization whose original purpose was to build community and provide a safe environment for lesbian and bisexual women to socialize. For the purposes of court registration, 7 women (out of more than 20 who have been meeting regularly in a self-help group since 2003) provided their personal details; however, most of them did not consent to their names being made public.

2005

How an activist camp gave birth to the idea of Sofia LGBTI Community Fest

In August in Varna, Billits organized the first activist summer camp for lesbian and bisexual women. The camp brought together 15 participants from all over the country. During the camp, an idea was born to tell the story of the initiative through a photo exhibition, which was later further developed and the first edition of Sofia LGBT Art Fest, today Sofia LGBTI Community Fest, was born.

2009

Bilitis takes over the organization of Sofia Pride

A year after the first Sofia Pride, there is a risk that a second Pride will not take place, because the organization that initiated its creation – BGO Gemini – suddenly ceased its activities. Bilitis took over the role of organizer. After 2012, the Committee expanded its membership with the addition of the BHC and the LGBT Youth Action, and in 2014 the GLAAS Foundation joined.

2010

Creating quality LGBTI resources is our top priority

The lack of any data on LGBTI people in Bulgaria was until recently an obstacle that hindered our work. That is why in 2010 we became the first LGBTI organisation to start doing qualitative research among the community in order to learn more about the lives of LGBTI people in Bulgaria. These surveys give us a solid base for our advocacy work and work with institutions.

2011

Schools for all, including LGBTI – our first international project

The Schools for All project aims to reduce homophobia and transphobia in schools by creating interactive tools for teachers to help introduce LGBTI issues in the school environment. This is our first international project in partnership with the Danish Institute for Human Rights and a total of 10 LGBTI organisations from 10 European countries.

2014

Campaign for the 2014 European Elections

In connection with the 2014 European elections, Bilitis organised the “ComeOut for LGBTI Rights” campaign in Bulgaria, in which candidates for MEPs must openly declare their support for the LGBTI community by signing an official pledge to defend LGBTI rights if elected. Thanks to the campaign, 4 candidates signed the pledge and one of them, Ilhan Küçük, was elected MEP.

2017

Intersex man’s first case won for legal gender recognition

In 2015. Bilitis started the first case for legal recognition of the gender of an intersex person in Bulgaria – Paul Naydenov, co-chair and one of the founders of Bilitis. On February 22, 2017, after two appeals of previous decisions, in Sofia City Court Paul won the case, allowing for the first time in Bulgaria an intersex person to change their personal documents in accordance with the gender with which they identify.

2018

Opening of Rainbow Hub

In 2018, we made one of our wildest dreams come true and opened Rainbow Hub, the first LGBTI community centre in Bulgaria, in partnership with GLAAS Foundation and Action, a youth LGBT organisation. Rainbow Hub has quickly become a home for the LGBTI community in Sofia, a centre of attraction for people from the country and a desirable meeting place for our partners from Europe and the world.

2019

Our team a.k.a power to the people

Having started as a 100% volunteer organization, today Bilitis is proud of its permanent team! Attracting and retaining motivated professionals who choose to work for an LGBTI organization is no easy task. From two part-time staff in 2009, in 2019 we now have four full-time staff, one part-time staff and over 10 permanent volunteers.

Activation Catalyst❤

for LGBTI people in Bulgaria❤

Bilitis Foundation

Mission and Values

MISSION

Our mission is to eliminate all forms of discrimination and achieve full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and intersex (LGBTI) people in Bulgaria.

VALUES

Our values are human dignity, freedom, democracy, rule of law, equality, solidarity, justice, inclusion, non-discrimination and human rights. Bilitis shares and promotes the values of the EU.

Bilitis Foundation

Visión and Approach

VISION

We work for a society where all people have equal rights and no one is discriminated against because of who they are.

APPROACH

Bilitis uncompromisingly defends equality, wholeheartedly supports and promotes community and shares its solid intersectional expertise. Our approach is grounded in human rights and the direct participation of our communities.

Bilitis Foundation

Objectives

In fulfilling our mission, we have identified four strategic priorities:

Develop, empower and support the LGBTI community across the country.
Advocating for changes in legislation and policies to fully respect the rights of LGBTI people, equal inclusion in all spheres of public life, recognition of LGBTI families, gender recognition, prevention of anti-LGBTI hate crimes.
Changing public attitudes and increasing levels of acceptance of LGBTI people in Bulgarian society.
Work at international level to raise awareness of the state of LGBTI rights and democracy in Bulgaria.

Bilitis Comunities

JOIN

Team

Director, Administrative Manager

Pol Naidenov

he/him

Pol Naidenov is the first open intersex activist in Bulgaria. He is a member and founder of Bilitis and T.I.A. (Trans, Intersex and their Allies). Paul is a founder and board member of the international intersex organization - OII-Europe.
His main interests are focused on the human and civil rights of intersex and trans people and children. He works on issues related to access to medical and social services, legal gender reassignment and social adaptation of trans and intersex people. She is a computer programmer and QA computer specialist by training.

Director, Communication Manager

Manuela Popova

she/they

Manuela has been an active volunteer in various projects and initiatives for over 10 years. She has participated in a number of trainings and workshops and is a certified Youth Exchange Leader. She studied public relations at New Bulgarian University and has many years of experience in digital communications and marketing activities. She joined the Bilitis team in April 2020 in the role of Communications Manager. The causes she supports are mainly related to feminism and LGBTI rights. She was awarded a special prize "Inspiration of the Year" by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee for her project aimed at breaking down stereotypes in society "Don't be offended, but..."

Senior Trans Program Coordinator

Robin Zlatarov

he/him

Robin has been an active volunteer in various initiatives for nearly 7 years. Prior to joining the organization in 2022, he was involved in Bilitis activities and helped maintain the Rainbow Hub Community Center. He has experience in organizing events and leading workshops on various topics.

In 2021, with the help of Bilitis, he started the TransMission youth trans group, through which the Live Your Truth exhibition was created, as well as an Instagram account raising awareness on trans issues. He is currently studying psychology at New Bulgarian University and is interested in the mental health of the LGBTI+ community. As a non-binary activist, a key focus of his work is the well-being and development of the trans community in Bulgaria.

Coordinator

Kai Kisyov

he/him

Kai is an aspiring youth worker and social activist. He has graduated from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Organisational Management & Human Resources. Kai has also taken the role of Equality and Inclusion Representative at the Business School of Leeds University, where he co-developed a training on E&I that all students should complete at the beginning of their academic journey. Kai shows a profound interest in the fields of human rights, politics, history, geography and diplomacy. He has taken parts in multiple trainings under the Erasmus+ programme, has experience in organizing workshops, and dreams to expand Bilitis’ capacity as a host organisation of such initiatives. Kai speaks Bulgarian, English and Spanish at a fluent level.

Associates

Sports Coordinator

Mira Manavska

she/her

Miroslava has been actively involved in sports since her childhood. In 2018, she transferred her experience from the field of sports to her volunteer work at Bilitis as a Sports Coordinator. Together with the organization's team, she further developed Sofia Pride Sport (the sports program accompanying Sofia Pride), and initiated a series of sports activities for the community throughout the year. Alongside this, Miroslava works on a number of international projects and activities of Bilitis in the field of LGBTI rights and sport.
She has interests in holistic health, non-formal education and psychology, which she actively uses in her volunteer work. She is currently completing her Master's degree in Psychology at VSU and is training at the Institute of Neo-Reichian Analytical Psychotherapy in Sofia.

Attorney at law

Silvia Petkova

she/her

Sylvia is a Master of Laws student at Sofia University "Sv. She is a graduate of Sofia University. She is the author of over 150 scientific publications in Bulgarian and foreign legal publications and has lectured at a number of training seminars for civil servants. Sylvia is an initiator and participant in numerous public discussions related to the problems of legislation in the field of criminal law and human rights. She has numerous specialisations in the field of human rights protection at the Council of Europe, including the right to respect for private and family life; combating racism, homophobia and xenophobia; combating hate speech and hate crimes; violence against women and domestic violence.

Attorney at law

Natasha Dobreva

she/her

Natasha Dobreva holds a Master's Degree in International Human Rights Law (2007) and is a lawyer from the Sofia Bar Association (2007), specializing as an attorney for victims of crime. She is a strategic litigator at the ECtHR, where she has won 22 cases and 3 interim measures. Before the ECtHR she filed complaints on behalf of transgender persons against the governments of Bulgaria and Russia. Her landmark cases defending the right to gender identity are Y.T. v. Bulgaria and Savinovskikh et al. v. Russia. She currently has 3 complaints registered with the ECHR against Bulgaria on behalf of women in same-sex partnerships and their children, and one complaint alleging a violation of freedom of assembly - the Burgas Pride case. At the national level, Atty. Dobreva has litigated gender recognition cases in 7 cities across the country. She represented Ms. K.H. in the 2024 preliminary ruling proceedings at the European Court of Justice on the right of European transgender citizens to access to justice and the primacy of EU law over national definitions of gender.