The UK's largest teaching union has voted to defy the Supreme Court's ruling on gender by allowing transgender teachers to continue using women's toilets.
The National Education Union (NEU) passed a motion over the weekend calling for guidance - issued after last month's ruling - to be withdrawn.
However, the union's national executive body voted on Saturday to "urgently call on employers to support the right to use gendered facilities which match gender identities."
Britain's most senior judges concluded in April that the terms "woman" and "sex" in the 2010 Equality Act "refer to a biological woman and biological sex".
Daniel Kebede, the union's general secretary, said there was 'a toxic climate'
PA
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) subsequently released interim guidance stating that "it is compulsory to provide sufficient single-sex toilets" and changing facilities in workplaces.
In addition, the guidance also specified that in public services such as hospitals, shops and restaurants, "trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women's facilities".
The NEU described the EHRC guidance as "incoherent" and "unclear", arguing it "contradicts current practices, which allow all staff to use gendered spaces appropriate to them".
According to the Mail on Sunday, the union may now intervene to provide legal assistance for transgender teachers if they are barred from female toilets or girls' changing rooms.
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Trans protest in Oxford PAThe executive's 52 members voted in favour of the motion entitled "trans rights are human rights". The motion also called on schools to develop trans-inclusive policies and create a "myth-busting leaflet" about transgender people.
Daniel Kebede, the union's general secretary, said: "The NEU is looking carefully at the Supreme Court ruling and its implications for employment.
"A toxic climate has been created in recent years in which trans people, a small community, are treated as if they are a risk or threat to others."
The NEU also claimed there was a "whirl of misinformation" following the judgement that had created a "deeply distressing" climate for transgender people.
The National Education Union (NEU) is one of the most influential unions in the UK PAKebede told The Telegraph that schools need to be "flexible, welcoming places which prioritise well-being and respectful attitudes".
The union also wrote to Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, last month urging the Department for Education to "move quickly to provide the right support and useful information to schools" following the ruling.
The NEU has become increasingly political in recent months, labelling Reform UK a "far-Right and racist party" at its annual conference in April.
Kebede described Nigel Farage as a "poundshop Donald Trump" and vowed to use the union's political fund to campaign against Reform's election candidates.
The union has also threatened fresh teacher strikes unless the Government improves its 2.8 per cent pay rise offer.
