Dealing With Conflict Where There Is A Clash Of Beliefs
Not everyone accepts that people can identify in a different way from their birth sex. You may need to resolve differences between members of staff who hold opposing, but equally protected, beliefs. Trans people are protected from discrimination under the gender-assignment provisions in the Equality Act. People who hold gender critical views are protected under the protected characteristic of religion or belief.
The first thing to remember is that there is no hierarchy of rights; each protected characteristic is as important as the others. You should take an even-handed approach and you shouldn’t pick and choose what beliefs you allow your staff to express or endorse beliefs. But you can and should insist that staff with conflicting views treat each other with courtesy and respect, and express their views in a respectful way.
Employees have some freedom to express their protected beliefs at work, provided they do so reasonably. But it’s sensible to lay down guidelines which make it clear that your organisation tolerates/embraces difference, and that staff wishing to express their views, or disagree with those held by other people, must do so in a respectful and polite manner.
You must emphasise that employees on either side of this debate can't say what they want about, or to, others. Deliberately misgendering someone amounts to harassment, as would accusing someone of being transphobic simply on the basis that they hold gender-critical beliefs. This message should be reinforced via diversity and inclusion training.
Training should also explain what staff can and can’t say about each other – even on their personal social media accounts. Employers will usually be able to act against staff who post inappropriate messages about their organisation or the people in it if it could damage its reputation or damage working relations.
Make it clear that their personal accounts shouldn’t in anyway be linked to the company. A clear message saying that any posts are views of their own should also be displayed in their bio. It’s important to ensure that you have a clear social media policy which is aligned with your diversity and inclusion policy and that both are regularly updated and reviewed by all staff.