Students from the Theology Department of the Sofia University St. Kliment of Ohrid are organizing a counter march of the June 27 Gay Pride Parade.

The religious march will take place on June 21 - the Sunday of All Bulgarian Saints.

The march is supported by Bulgarian Orthodox Christians, clergy, and the Brotherhood of Sofia's Orthodox Temples.

" We are not against the right of everyone to identify themselves and belong to a certain group, but we don't think it is of the benefit of the society to brazenly advertise homosexuality," the declaration of the Initiative Committee reads.

They add the Gay Parade is not a harmless show, but an attempt to eliminate the boundaries between what is normal and what is not.

The march will begin at the square in front of the "Alexander Nevski" Cathedral in downtown Sofia at 11:30 am and will end at the National Palace of Culture.

In the mean time, Sofia's June 27 Rainbow Friendship march has received the support of 11 embassies, including those of the US, UK, Germany and France. It has been, however, officially endorsed only by one political party - The Greens.

The parade, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, is going to cost BGN 50 000 to Bulgaria's tax payers.

More than 60 persons were arrested in June 2008 by the police for trying to attack and harass the participants in the first Sofia gay pride parade. The arrested were mostly representatives of the skin heads and other extremist groups, who were throwing stones, bottles, squibs, and even Molotov cocktails at the procession.

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