Andrei is a 30-year-old political refugee and artist from the Belarusian capital, Minsk. He did not want to reveal his surname because he feared the repercussions for his relatives in Belarus. He hopes the Bulgarian state will give him asylum so that he can stay in the country with his Russian husband Alex, a journalist and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two met when Andrei moved to Moscow in 2011, where he opened a small pottery workshop. They both say it was love at first sight, and have been inseparable ever since they met.

They were married in Denmark 10 years ago, as same-sex marriages are not recognized in either Russia or Belarus, where increasingly repressive laws have made it very difficult for LGBTQ+ people.

It's also become increasingly difficult to be a journalist in Putin's Russia. "Because of my job, I regularly received threats on my cellphone," Alex told DW. "To be honest, I was used to it because it had been happening for years." But the threats got worse after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Later that year, the men decided to leave Russia and applied for asylum in Bulgaria. The answer came almost a year later: Alex was allowed to stay, but not Andrei.

LGBTQ+ people in detention can 'be tortured, raped'

In Moscow, Alex worked for kasparov.ru, a Putin-critical website that has been banned since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Its owner — chess grand master and political activist Garry Kasparov — is on Russia's list of "terrorists and extremists." Alex said it was "very clear that very real problems could arise because of the political nature of my website." 

Andrei was also at great risk of being persecuted for his political beliefs. Since 2006, he has taken part in protests against Belarus' authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. He has also spoken out openly against Russia's aggression against Ukraine. He said Belarusian authorities continued to look for protesters and were still arresting them, even though it's already been four years since the last mass demonstrations took place in Belarus.

Andrei explained that opponents of the Belarusian regime were often arrested when trying to leave Belarus via a border other than the one shared with Russia. And detention is even worse for LGBTQ+ people: "You can be tortured, you can be raped. All of that can happen."

Bulgaria's refugee agency rejects risk of persecution

However, for the Bulgarian state, this is not reason enough to grant asylum to Andrei. According to the State Agency for Refugees, Andrei's story is contradictory and illogical, and he is not at risk of political persecution or serious harm. The agency has claimed Andrei was able to enter Russia from Belarus several times, without being bothered.

Denitsa Lyubenova, the couple's lawyer, refutes this argument. "The application refers to entries and exits into and from Russia because the agency does not know that there is no de facto border between Russia and Belarus," she said. "So, these cannot be considered normal border crossings with identity documents being checked, at which he could have been arrested or given a kind of document."

Furthermore, she told DW that the agency had not taken into account the fact that even if Andrei himself did not have a history of persecution, he was exposed to the same risks as the husband of a person who is politically persecuted.

"He is not an independent asylum-seeker. He is seeking asylum as Alex's relative," she said.

Bulgaria does not recognize same-sex marriages

Though the two men could prove that they got married in Denmark, they were both registered as being single in their applications as Bulgaria does not recognize same-sex marriages. "The agency does not think that Alex and I share anything, that we're just friends," Andrei told DW. "They do not think I share the same risks as my partner."

They plan to resubmit their application with the support of their lawyer. They will argue that as a married couple, they are at equal risk of persecution and need protection together. They also intend to go to the European Court of Human Rights.

Andrei and Alex have never hidden the fact that they are a couple, and this led to psychological and physical harassment at home. "The police in Belarus and Russia would probably make fun of anyone who says they are attacked because of their sexual orientation because we have no laws against discrimination," said Alex. "There are no cases of assaults based on sexual orientation being recognized as discrimination. LGBTQ+ people are not considered a social group."

In April, Belarus passed another repressive law that defines the portrayal of same-sex relationships and trans people as pornography, which is punishable by up to four years in prison.

Bulgaria has also passed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation

Alex and Andrei said they felt safe in Bulgaria. "There are not so many repressive laws here, no political prisoners, no war and no dictators like Lukashenko and Putin," said Andrei.

However, in August, Bulgaria also passed a law based on Russian legislation that drastically restricted the rights of LGBTQ+ people and banned "propaganda for non-traditional sexual orientations" in Bulgarian schools. The bill was introduced by the pro-Russia, nationalist Rebirth party and passed with a large majority in the Bulgarian parliament. Many legal experts have said  the new law is unconstitutional.

According to the Deystvie, a Bulgarian organization that campaigns for the social and legal equality of LGBTQ+ people, queer people are at a legal disadvantage. Same-sex couples are not allowed to marry, they cannot adopt children together or inherit their partner's property. Trans people are not able to legally change their gender.

Andrei and Alex were shocked by the controversial new law. "Now I feel less safe because I see the strong influence of Moscow here in Bulgaria," said Alex. But he added that he refused to give up hope of a life with Andrei in Bulgaria, which he said was still "a democratic country."

This article was originally written in German.