Protected variables only working with protected branches breaks Gitflow workflow

Summary

When using a workflow involving Gitflow it's typical to create temporary feature branches under the branch name feature/*.

When pushing to Gitlab these branches need access to protected environmental variables to run tests.

When the feature branch is Finished it's typical to want to delete the branch.

Unfortunately the branch is protected and can't be deleted.

Expected behavior

Protected environmental variables should be usable by unprotected branches.

Possible fixes

Provide an option to allow protected environmental variables to be passed into unprotected branches.