Next week Arlene Foster will attend the PinkNews summer reception at Stormont, currently only being used for such events because there has been no government sitting in 18 months.
This is the type of event politicians are regularly invited to attend, with little more than a happy PR picture to mark their appearance.
The reason this particular attendance, at this specific event, by this high-profile politician, is newsworthy needs little explanation.
That the DUP used a petition of concern back in 2012 to block legislative change that would legalise same sex marriage is a matter of record.
The statements made by some of its members since on the issue of marriage equality have caused great hurt, not just to the LGBT community but also to those who have friends and relatives being denied the same rights available to those living on every other part of these islands.
The influence of people like Jim Wells on the party appears to be waning. Even the South Down MLA, former health minister and deputy speaker, can read the writing on the wall.
His solo runs giving media interviews, breaking the DUP's unspoken but obvious Boycott of the BBC Nolan programme, all look like the last gasp of a politician who realises his time is almost up.
As a leader, the youngest in the DUP's history and the first woman, many of us – wrongly – expected Mrs Foster to modernise and change the party.
Instead she seemed, publicly at least, handcuffed to the past.
Meanwhile Sinn Féin changes at breakneck speed, last weekend's ard fhéis was all about new Sinn Féin and the 'New Ireland', now a very real topic of conversation for both republicans and unionists.
When Peter Robinson tackled the subject in his much talked about speech at Queen's University he did so knowing it would start a real debate that unionists can no longer just bat off as fantasy politics.
DUP influence at Westminster may have bolstered the party's MPs but appears to have done little for Mrs Foster's leadership. Her failure to get the February deal over the line, again referred to in cutting terms by Peter Robinson, could be read as a sign of her weakening control.
The Fermanagh woman's career trajectory has been impressive. To rise to the top of a male dominated, patriarchal and conservative party having defected from the UUP was no easy task and showed strength of character.
But what has happened since has indicated a reluctance - to steal a phrase from Mary Lou McDonald – to bring her own shoes. To put her stamp on the role, to make it her own.
Social conservatism may have been the political norm in Northern Ireland's past but certainly not in its future.
That much coveted Tory deal has opened the DUP up to scrutiny from the English press and fellow MPs.
Moves to change abortion legislation and introduce same sex marriage by private members bills at Westminster just highlights this dusty, old-fashioned attitude to a bigger audience.
Arlene Foster appears to have finally realised that she needs to work on her image.
She has been involved in several weeks of outreach with the GAA, the growing and vibrant Muslim community and now agreeing to attend the PinkNews event.
And there are those who have criticised not only her but the manner in which these recent events have been reported.
It seems bizarre to pour praise on a politician for simply doing what they are elected to do by representing all their constituents.
And so I fully understand the anger of those within the LGBT community who have seen all this before, with endless politicians who use their cause when it's popular and ditch it after election time.
But we are on a journey, call it a new Ireland or changing Northern Ireland but social change is coming and it cannot be prevented by a handful of fundamentalists for much longer.
I'm also aware that we cannot call people out for their political stance and then criticise them when they try to change.
The referendum in the south is an example of how persuasion and lobbying pay off, how politicians can and are swayed by the power of the people.
And so I offer a cautious welcome to this DUP outreach, for change does happen and it is always better to bring as many people on that journey as possible.
The DUP must be made aware that it will take more than photo opportunity to heal the hurt, but that doesn't mean closing doors when we've seen what can be achieved by reaching out.
