The DUP is set to return to an LGBT event where the party last year issued an apology for past remarks against the community.
DUP MLA Pam Cameron is expected to join representatives of the other main Stormont parties on Wednesday at the PinkNews Belfast Summer Reception for a panel discussion.
The annual event in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings was held virtually last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the DUP represented by deputy leader Paula Bradley.
Read more: DUP MLA Pam Cameron shares her delight at attending best friends' gay wedding
During the panel discussion last year, she apologised for the "absolutely atrocious" comments made in the past by some in her party against the LGBT community.
Ms Bradley said "shocking" remarks made over the years have "fed into the hatred that some people have had to endure in their life".
Her apology was later endorsed by DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who said that Ms Bradley "speaks for the party".
The Lagan Valley MP said people can hold "deeply held views" on social issues in a respectful way.
The fourth PinkNews Belfast Summer Reception on Wednesday is being sponsored by Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw and supported by financial services company Citi.
Leading figures from Sinn Fein, Alliance, the UUP and SDLP are also expected to take part alongside the DUP in the panel discussion on LGBT issues.
The DUP has a long history of hostility towards LGBT people, including party founder Rev Ian Paisley leading the 'Save Ulster from Sodomy' campaign in the 1970s against the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
But the party has been slowly softening its stance towards the LGBT community in recent years.
Last September, Sir Jeffrey held a meeting with the Rainbow Project, which is believed to be the first time a DUP leader has had a sit-down meeting with an LGBT group.
While the DUP strongly opposed same-sex marriage, Ms Cameron last year shared online her delight at attending her best friends' gay wedding.
Ms Cameron was among a number of DUP MLAs who abstained on a Stormont motion last year calling for a ban on gay conversion therapy, while the majority of the party voted against the motion.
The DUP has said it supports a ban on conversion therapy but wants "robust protections for churches" and religious freedom of expression.
Sir Jeffrey has previously said he wants to "broaden the appeal of unionism".
In his first keynote speech after becoming DUP leader, he said his party needs to be in the "mainstream of unionism" and they cannot afford to marginalise themselves with "policies that apply to the few and not the many".
Same-sex marriage was legalised in Northern Ireland in 2020 after Westminster intervened during the Stormont Assembly's three-year collapse over the RHI scandal.
READ NEXT:
- DUP MLA Pam Cameron shares her delight at attending best friends' gay wedding
- DUP will veto gay conversion therapy ban unless there are 'robust protections for churches'
- DUP deputy leader Paula Bradley apologises for party's past treatment of LGBT community
- DUP MLA criticised for sharing 'anti-LGBT' Facebook post
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