Gay Rights Group Meets with Irish Leader

The Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association hopes that a Friday meeting with Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott becomes a regular occurrence and expands to other political parties.

The Belfast Telegraph reports on the "groundbreaking" meeting held in the wake of a statement from Elliott last year that he would never attend a gay rights march. He made the statement during his campaign for the party leadership.

Elliott spoke out against discrimination after his meeting with the gay rights group, the Telegraph reported.

"The Ulster Unionist Party will continue to work towards building a vibrant, modern and pluralist Northern Ireland within the UK," he said.

Mag Lochlainn, president of the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association, called the meeting "encouraging" and said his group hopes for more meetings with even more political parties.