DUP must '˜get out of the way of marriage equality', says SDLP leader

Speaking to BBC NI’s The View programme ahead of DUP leader Arlene Foster’s attendance at an LGBT event next week, Colum Eastwood said his younger brother Liam, who now lives in London, was denied the same rights as him and is not treated as “a full citizen” in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Foster has agreed to attend a PinkNews-organised summer reception at Stormont on June 28, but Mr Eastwood said her party must change its stance on same-sex marriage - something it has consistently opposed.

“They can turn up to whatever event they want, but until they get out of the way of marriage equality then people will not take them seriously,” he said.

“If people who love each other still aren’t entitled to get married, that’s a disgrace and has to stop and there is a simple way of fixing it.”

South Belfast DUP MLA Christopher Stalford acknowledged that the party has said things in the past that have “hurt people”, but added that it is “reaching out to people to try and mend fences”.

Mrs Foster will be the first DUP leader to attended a reception for the LGBT community.