The LGBTI Teachers’ Consultation Conference offers a safe space to explore key issues and challenges you face in your career, share experiences with other LGTBI members and contribute ideas for the future of your Union.

These events are FREE to eligible members and provide you with the opportunity to take part in seminars and workshops:

  • You are eligible if you have self-identified on your membership record as identifying as LGBTI.

  • If you have not yet recorded your equality monitoring data, you can do this yourself by logging into e-Services or you can email our LGBTI inbox to send the information to us via a secure, bespoke LGBTI email address. Please be reassured that information on members’ sexual orientation or Trans identity is treated in strict confidence and not shared with Workplace Representatives or Local Associations.

Events will be listed in this section as they become available. Tap/click for details of the event and how to book.

NASUWT conferences and events are strictly for adults only due to the nature of the content shared and no children will be permitted into any areas of the conference.

LGBTI Teachers' Consultation Conference 2025

The 2025 LGBTI Teachers’ Consultation Conference took place at the Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre in Birmingham on Saturday 22 November under the theme ‘Standing United and Strong: Shaping our Union in the Fight to Protect LGBTI Dignity and Rights’.

Chairing the Conference, NASUWT Senior Vice-President Mark Dickinson welcomed Deputy General Secretary Jane Peckham to give the keynote address.

Jane Peckham began by addressing the recent Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010.

Ms Peckham said, ‘This has been a key issue for NASUWT this year, with far-reaching effects and ‘knee-jerk’ responses across the UK resulting in increased anti-trans rhetoric and hate in the mainstream media and online.’

She said this has not been helped by mainstream politicians or the EHRC who rushed out ‘interim’ guidance within 24 hours that was later withdrawn following legal challenges. The guidance interpreted the Supreme Court judgement as a ‘bathroom ban’ and started a bandwagon that many have unfortunately jumped on.

Ms Peckham continued, ‘Within days of the ruling, an emergency motion was placed before NASUWT Annual Conference. The motion was passed unanimously and the union has been working according to this policy since.’

Impact of the Supreme Court Ruling on Trans and Non-binary Teachers

Conference notes that the Supreme Court Ruling this week on the definition of a woman, may lead to policies both inside and outside of educational workplaces, that put transgender and non-binary teachers at significant risk of abuse, inequality and harm. UK law already fails to recognise non-binary people and therefore there is a lack of awareness and protection for these teachers with many schools failing to provide safe spaces for non-binary and transgender teachers and students.

Conference also notes that certain public bodies have already changed their policies in light of this ruling before further guidance has been consulted on and provided by the government or case law on this matter. Hate crime against transgender and non-binary people has continued to increase and many crimes go unreported or fail to be successfully prosecuted and this ruling may lead to a further increase in transgender hate crime.

Conference is further concerned that the current political situation in the USA may also impact how the UK government now responds to policies designed to protect the rights of transgender people.

Conference calls for the NASUWT to:

  1. work with government to strengthen the legal protections of transgender people and protect safe spaces for transgender people;

  2. campaign for proper recognition and protection under the Equality Act for all non-binary people;

  3. consider training NASUWT LGBTI mentors to provide support for members experiencing anti-LGBTI within the workplace or the union; and

  4. ensure that model guidance for schools on supporting LGBTI members are reviewed to ensure schools continue to meet their obligations under the Equality Act and campaign and collectivise against any knee-jerk policy changes in educational settings.

Ms Peckham went on to say, ‘NASUWT responded robustly to the EHRC consultation on its draft code of practice and guidance. The EHRC has been pushing the Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson, to publish the final version, which she seems to be resisting for now despite her testimony at the High Court that the EHRC is overstepping its remit.

‘NASUWT held a meeting to discuss the ruling with the LGBTI Advisory Committee  and we had a legal briefing at the Equalities Training and Development Day in June.’

Ms Peckham also highlighted NASUWT’s active role in the Trade Unions for Trans and Non-Binary Alliance, with our TUC representatives leading sessions at the November meeting in Leeds.

She continued, ‘It is difficult to campaign or lobby against the invisible force of unpublished guidance, but NASUWT is committed to resisting and campaigning against anything that erodes the rights of trans and non-binary people.’

‘Allyship is key in these difficult times.’

The Scottish Government has published interim non-statutory guidance and across the UK, schools are floundering with no guidance, but NASUWT is bridging the gap:

‘Teachers, children and young people are being let down left, right and centre in most parts of the UK.’

The second key issue for the NASUWT Advisory Committee was the DfE’s Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance for schools in England.

Ms Peckham said, ‘This comes into action in September 2026. The guidance has two problematic paragraphs which are poorly worded and could lead to a Section 28-style interpretation of a ban on discussing trans and gender-questioning issues.

‘There will be more discussion of this in the consultation session this afternoon, with additional information about the Pride in Education open letter to the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson.

During the consultation session, members voted overwhelmingly to support NASUWT signing up to the Pride in Education open letter, which calls for an urgent revision of the RHSE 2026 guidance.

Ms Peckham continued, ‘We will also be emailing a survey to all members in England, so please take part and encourage your colleagues and peers to do the same. It is important we get an accurate picture of what is happening in the country, so we can use your views to lobby the DfE and in our campaigns.’

In Scotland, new draft guidance on teaching RSHP (Relationship, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education) will be published shortly. Although NASUWT Scotland was not invited to the working group on this, we are currently engaging with the drafting process. NASUWT Scotland will keep members informed of any areas of concern that arise when the draft guidance goes out to consultation and lobby and campaign accordingly.

In Northern Ireland, RSE is a statutory subject, but guidance is very weak and schools can pick and choose what they want to teach. This leads to LGBTI children and young people feeling excluded and that the subject is not about them.

RSE guidance in Wales has been in place since 2022 and there has been no move to amend or change this so far.

Ms Peckham made it clear that NASUWT’s position on trans and non-binary rights is unaltered and is in line with the TUC, STUC and WTUC positions.

‘We will defend these rights and campaign against any attempt to water them down or erode them. Equality is not a pie: giving rights to one group does not diminish the rights of another.

‘We need to hear the voices of our LGBTI members and their allies. We want you to be more involved/active in your schools, in your Local Associations and beyond.

‘Talk to the Advisory Committee members present today about how to get involved. They are elected to represent your views and advocate within the union. They have guided the Equal Opportunities Committee in the planning of this consultation conference. You could too.’

Ms Peckham assured members present that the consultation conference is designed as a safe and protected space with specific arrangements to avoid anyone being involuntarily ‘outed’.

‘However, we need the voices and experiences of LGBTI members to inform our policies and practices. The consultation session this afternoon provides an opportunity for you to shape these policies in the future,’ she said.

In conclusion, Ms Peckham told members that NASUWT strives to ensure our work is intersectional.

‘That means when we are considering LGBTI equality, we need to know what that means for those who identify as Black, disabled, women or young (30 and under).

‘We know, for example, that if you are a gay man with a disability, the issues you may face in the workplace may be homophobic as well as ableist and we would like to hear more about the intersectional nature of Standing United and Strong within NASUWT.’

Ms Peckham’s address was followed by a report from Phil Siddle, NASUWT Assistant General Secretary (Regional Development and Support). In his capacity as the NASUWT representative on the Global Unions LGBTI Committee, Mr Siddle described the work being done on the international stage.

He said, ‘We recognise that the UK has had a very positive history of LGBTI rights in the last 20 years, but we are seeing a swing against those rights and facing similar attacks to LGBTI people in the US.

‘So firstly, I want to publicly acknowledge that we know many people in this room will feel some fear about what is happening in the UK.

‘I came out over 30 years ago at school and I’ve witnessed huge positive changes during those 30 years, particularly in schools. We moved away from the legacy of section 28 to inclusive teaching resources and guidance and the union played a part in helping to implement such guidance.

‘After all the positive change in attitudes and legislation, there has been a worrying change in the public narrative over the last five years, with LGBTI hate crimes on the rise. Before the pandemic, there were around 15,000 LGBTI hate crimes reported annually. Last year, that had doubled to nearly 30,000, with more than a fifth involving violence.’

Mr Siddle said that while we know things are deteriorating in the UK, many countries face far worse:

  • there are 64 countries where being gay is outlawed;

  • there are countries where persecution and even death is the price paid for being LGBTI;

  • there is even a roll-back in Europe, where in Hungary this year there were bans on public LGBTI events, among other anti-LGBTI constitutional amendments, and taking part in Budapest Pride was intentionally made illegal.

He continued, ‘The Global Unions LGBTI Committee has a range of activities to support LGBTI people across the world, including:

  • training in the Philippines, supporting development of LGBTI networks and equality;

  • trans ally training for unions in the US and Europe;

  • a programme of work tackling the far right.

‘The attacks on LGBTI people are linked to the growing success of far-right and populist parties like Reform in the UK and we find Trump’s comments about diversity, equality and inclusion being repeated in the UK. A Pride month post by the Labour Party saw hundreds of openly hostile and anti-LGB and T comments.’

‘People feel empowered to discriminate again.’

Mr Siddle said, ‘For these reasons, there has never been a more vital time for all of us in the trade union movement to take action, to campaign to protect, and to support and improve our hard-won LGBTI rights.

‘We all have a role to play in this. We all did it throughout the last 20 years and we can do it again.’

Other sessions

  • Two workshops were repeated during the day to allow members to attend both sessions:

    • Intersectionality led by James H. Veradi, Equality Network.

    • Trans Rights in the UK - what are they and what's changed? led by Chay Brown, Trans Actual.

  • Rainbow Voices - West Midlands-based choir celebrating diversity through song

  • Consultation session led by Claire Ward, NASUWT EOC, on the impact of the Supreme Court ruling and the implementation of the new RSHE guidance in England in 2026.

  • Intersectional Identities: Deconstructing Power and Privilege led by Laïla El-Métoui, Multilingual Global Equity Educator and public speaker.

The day was rounded off with an opportunity for LGBTI teachers to socialise and to continue the important conversations they had begun during the day.

Flickr Album

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