Plans for First Minister Arlene Foster to meet with LGBT organisations have been described by campaigners as “belatedly welcome”.
The DUP leader is set to meet with LGBT groups in the coming weeks, Belfast Live revealed.
It will be the first time a Stormont First Minister has met with representatives of the LGBT community.
The Executive Office confirmed the planned meeting, which will also involve Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill.
It is expected to take place within the next fortnight and is likely to be held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The DUP has a long history of hostility towards the LGBT community, including its founder Ian Paisley leading the ‘Save Ulster from Sodomy’ campaign in the late 1970s against the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland.
Green Party deputy leader and LGBT activist Malachai O’Hara welcomed the planned meeting.
He tweeted: “It should not be 2021 before the First Minister meets LGBTQ groups. Belatedly welcome.
“Let’s hope it starts with an apology, finds common ground and results in action.”
The plans come after the Belfast councillor last month urged Mrs Foster to “reflect on” her lack of engagement.
Mr O’Hara said in a Belfast Live interview the “time has long passed” for the First Minister to have sat down with LGBT groups.
His party colleague and fellow LGBT activist Anthony Flynn also welcomed the development.
The Belfast councillor tweeted: “This is a long time coming but I hope it can result in much more positive engagement between the First Minister and the community in future.
“We should not have had to wait until 2021 for this meeting.”
Mrs Foster in 2018 became the first DUP leader to attend an LGBT event when she addressed a PinkNews reception at Stormont.
She said she valued the LGBT community’s contribution to Northern Ireland, but asked people to respect her opposition to same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage was legalised in Northern Ireland last year after Westminster intervened during the Assembly’s three-year collapse.
Earlier this month, Mrs Foster said she gets “very distressed” when she is referred to as homophobic.
The DUP leader was speaking during libel proceedings against a celebrity doctor who tweeted an unsubstantiated rumour that she had an affair.
A spokeswoman for the Executive Office said: “The First Minister and Deputy First Minister are planning to meet with representatives of the LGBTQI+ community in the coming weeks.”
