National pride: Negotiating heritage, gender, and belonging in times of illiberal ethnonationalism in Bulgaria

This article explores the relations between cultural heritage, gender, and national belonging.Using heritage as a perspective to these dynamics in Bulgaria, I examine the interactionsbetween the national-populist actors that challenge the core of liberal democracy,and the LGBT+ movement which counters xenophobic and exclusionary politics.In particular, the study focuses on the tenth edition of Sofia Pride march held in 2017that instrumentalised elements of traditional masked mumming and fused them withinternational queer symbolics for its visual identity and communicational campaign.Nationalfolklore was thus reclaimed to performatively contest ethnonationalist and heteronormativediscourses and assert a more inclusive understanding of heritage and belonging.This strategic reinterpretation of masquerade revealed some persistent societaldivides which materialised through the hostile reactions of radical-right parties andotherconservative circles. Following this opposition, the paper sheds light on the localentanglements with the global illiberal wave and anti-gender mobilisations, while additionallyprovides a more attuned contextualisation of the Bulgarian terrain. It furtheremphasises the empirical and epistemological implications of gendered heritage for boththe establishment of and the resistance to boundaries