As of Saturday evening (17 June), the DUP have yet to respond and the tweets remain online.

“Homophobia and the targeting of individuals based on their sexual orientation is never acceptable and should never be tolerated in any capacity,” said Mr Tennyson.

“However, for these comments to be made, in that type of language, by an elected representative is both particularly reckless and potentially very harmful. We all have a responsibility to call out and challenge this behaviour.

“This is not the first time a DUP representative has behaved inappropriately on social media. I hope Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will take this opportunity to publicly condemn the homophobic nature of these comments, and take the appropriate disciplinary measures against who was responsible for making them.”