GLAS Foundation
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Mission Statement
GLAS Foundation (Gays and Lesbians Accepted in Society) is a non-governmental organization, which was founded in 2014 and strives to bring forth a positive change to the lives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Bulgaria, guarantying them full equality and protection from all forms of discrimination.
About This Cause
The organization’s goal is the complete inclusion of LGBT people in all aspects of life and society. The main focus is on working with parents of LGBT people, creating an integrated work environment and campaigning against homophobic hate crimes, as well as promoting tolerance. Projects Sofia Pride – the biggest annual activist event in Bulgaria Sofia Pride aims to counteract the methods and mechanism of oppression towards LGBTI people in Bulgaria and to bring forth their individual and social empowerment, not just through their equal treatment without regard to their sexual orientation or gender identity, but also through public acceptance and improvement of their living standard. Since its founding in 2014, The GLAS Foundation has been one of the main organizers of Sofia Pride, alongside The “Bilitis Resource Center” Foundation, The LGBT Youth organization “Deystvie” and the Bulgarian Helzinki Committee. The first pride march was held on July 28, 2008 under the motto “Me and my family” and about 100 people took part in it. The 11th annual Sofia Pride was held in 2018 under the motto “Different people, equal rights” and it brought together more than 3500 people in the capital. Sofia Pride Arts – The festival of modern LGBTI art during Sofia Pride Sofia Pride Arts is one of the significant initiatives during the culture program of the most important LGBTI+ event in Bulgaria – Sofia Pride. After 7 years and over 100 presented projects of LGBTI performers from across the world, including Bulgaria, as of 2018. The Art festival has been extended from a week to a month and that is why the name was changed from Sofia Pride Art Week to Sofia Pride Arts. The Art initiative of the GLAS Foundation and Sofia Pride’s organizing committee has been held since 2012 as a preceding program to Sofia Pride in June. The Festival is curated by the GLAS Foundation and it includes a series of events and galleries with the purpose of showing the LGBTI’s community’s beauty, diversity and accomplishments on a global and national level. Work It OUT – A business platform for a more diverse and integrated working environment The business platform Work It OUT brings together local and global organizations, based in Bulgaria, that seek to make their corporate culture more accepting and diverse. The goal is to encourage the formation and development of a positive business and economic environment for equality and opportunity of every single employee in Bulgaria. The platform, which was created by the GLAS Foundation in 2017, hosts a variety of corporate and educational events, seminars and initiatives with the purpose of introducing companies and their managers to the innovative methods of LGBTI inclusion. The platform helps and cooperates with firms in the structuring of long-term strategies for engaging resources in support of integrating this group of employees. Presently, Work It Out works in partnership with 18 organizations including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, EY, British Council, SAP and others. Wearetolerant.com – a platform for online reporting of hate crimes and homophobia In 2015 The GLAS Foundation started the platform Wearetolerant.com. in order to help people who have experienced or have witnessed homophobic or transphobic hate crimes share and report what had transpired. The collected information is presented to the proper authorities so as to improve the treatment of LGBT people. The initiative aims to increase public consciousness regarding the seriousness of homophobic hate crimes, to monitor their types and scope within Bulgaria, as well as to encourage people to report these incidents. On the basis of all the signals to the platform between May and October 2017, the GLAS Foundation published a report in early 2018, according to which the most frequent type of incident, reported by people with non-traditional sexual orientation or gender identity in Bulgaria, are threats. Data shows that among the public places that have the highest amount of registered threats are schools, homes and bars. The Wearetolerant.com platform was created as a part of the #WeAreTolerant campaign against hate crimes, which was created with the financial support of the PlanetRomeo Foundation in 2015. Its purpose is to increase public condemnation of these acts of violence, as well as to bring forth the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to all sections of the penal code that concern hate crimes. Through this campaign, GLAS brought forth more attention and awareness to the national danger of this type of violence. Presently, the GLAS Foundation is in the process of preparing a much more encompassing informational project aimed at the general public, concerning the same topic. It is scheduled to start in 2019. Rainbow Hub – The first ever LGBTI community center in Bulgaria Ranbow Hub is the result of the collaborative work of the GLAS Foundation, The LGBT Youth organization “Deytsvie”, The “Bilitis Resource Center” Foundation and other individual LGBTI activists. Its purpose is to provide a safe space for all the LGBTI people in Bulgaria, where they can receive useful information regarding their rights and their health, communicate, meet in groups based on their interests, as well as support groups. The Hub, which officially opened in early 2018, also serves as the headquarters of Sofia Pride, and as an office for the three national LGBTI organizations. HUGE.bg – The first ever Bulgarian LGBTI online media The GLAS Foundation aims to give an opportunity to members of the LGBTI community to share their personal stories and to give society a clear example through the work that they do. We have addressed this goal by creating the online magazine HUGE.bg. It is a media, created by the community for the community, which strives to bring about normality in the perception of gay people, and to make up for the existing lack of such media in the Bulgarian market. The project started in 2013 and quickly became the leading platform for LGBTI news in the country. It is viewed by more than 15 thousand visitors per month. Support group for parents of LGBTI youths The GLAS Foundation, in collaboration with The “Bilitis Resource Center” Foundation and The LGBT Youth organization “Deystvie”, conducts a monthly support group for parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual youths. The group’s moderator is a psychotherapist who is experienced in parental counselling and working with LGBT people. During the meetings the participants have the opportunity to understand more about what LGBTI means, to learn to overcome their fears and prejudices, and to accept and love their children unconditionally. Information is properly presented and experiences are shared in a well-meaning environment. This helps the parents in the group to overcome their conflicting feeling and lack of knowledge, and to form strong and happy families. In order to achieve this, the GLAS Foundation has created a specialized handbook for parents of LGBT children, which can be easily read and downloaded from the organization’s website - www.glasfoundation.bg.