A member of Bulgarian parliament recently said that politicians should have to come out of the closet before they run for office to prevent any "homosexual conflicts of interest."

Veselin Mareshki, elected to parliament in March, made the comments in a TV interview last Friday, remarking that closeted legislators could be "dependent on people who have secret recordings of their activities." He insinuated that this blackmail could be used not only against the individual, but could even lead the country to "war with Russia."

Mareshki, who has called himself the "Bulgarian Donald Trump," added that some LGBT people may choose to stay quiet about their sexuality because they consider it to be "something shameful."

The likelier reason is that being openly LGBT in Bulgaria is not always safe. While same-sex sexual activity is legal and there are technically anti-discrimination laws in place, homophobic sentiment is still prevalent throughout much of the country.

A recent survey conducted by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights found that many Bulgarian doctors refer to homosexuality as something patients "catch" and the nation continues to require transgender citizens to undergo sterilization in order to receive documents and IDs that match their gender identity.

Radoslav Stoyanov, one of the organizers of the this weekend's Sofia Pride, blasted Mareshki for his statement and condemned other parliamentarians for not denouncing it.

"His statement carries the message that gay people have to be deprived of political representation and should not be in power," he said. "We will not see any [political] reaction because maybe [other political parties] consider this as something normal."