Christians are seen as "aggressive" in court cases involving transgender issues, a senior member of the Church of England has claimed.
The Revd Dr Malcolm Brown, the Church's Director of Faith and Public Life, made the comments following the case of a Christian teaching assistant Kristie Higgs who was sacked after expressing her views on transgender books in primary schools but won an appeal last week.
The clergyman, who is a senior adviser to the Church's Archbishops and is also responsible for leading its response to political and social issues, as well as public ethics, suggested that "the aggressive voices" in controversial debates played out in courtrooms are seen as "typically Christian".
The Archbishop's Council of the Church of England was the third party in the appeal hearing involving Mrs Higgs and her former employer.
Explaining why the Church became involved, the Revd Dr Malcolm said: "Over many years, cases which pitch Christians with particular views against people who find those views offensive have been fought between binary positions with little nuance.
"On the one hand, the representatives of Christians claiming to have been discriminated against argued that the freedom to express their beliefs in public was absolute, whoever it offended.
"On the other, a chill-factor was leading employers to regard any expression of religious belief as potentially problematic.
"Senior contacts in the legal profession told us of a judiciary increasingly frustrated with the way these cases were being argued in the courts, with the aggressive voices beginning to be seen as typically Christian.
"There may be a problem about expressing religious belief in public - but not exactly the one which some of the campaigning groups describe."
His comments come after Mrs Higgs, 46, was dismissed for gross misconduct in 2019 by Farmor's School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, after sharing Facebook posts criticising plans to teach LGBT+ relationships in primary schools.
Her views were regarded by critics as transphobic.
The school denied dismissing the mother of two because of her religious beliefs and said she was sacked because of the language used in the posts.
She said the comments, including one referring to "brainwashing our children", were made after she discovered that the Church of England school attended by her child planned to introduce books on "confusing and harmful gender identity" - including one titled My Princess Boy.
Mrs Higgs, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, took the school to an employment tribunal, arguing she had been unlawfully discriminated against because of her Christian beliefs.
In its ruling in 2020, the tribunal concluded that her religion was a "protected characteristic" as defined by the Equality Act, but that the school lawfully dismissed her.
Mrs Higgs appealed against that judgment to the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London, which has now ruled in her favour.
Her case will now be held at another Employment Tribunal.
In light of the judgment, Revd Dr Malcolm suggested that the case may mark something of a turning point, with employers and individuals now "better placed to assess a perceived offence and to resolve it before taking it to law".
"People who make a mistake, or act naively, should be protected - those who use their expressions of faith, or opposition to faith, to provoke an angry reaction, or who trample over the integrity of others, will see that their legal claims are likely to fail," he said.
"And we hope that the lazy assumption that religious belief is only truly authentic when it is strident and 'in your face' may have been laid to rest."
Discover Telegraph Wine Cellar's new wine club. Enjoy expertly chosen bottles at exclusive member prices. Plus, free delivery on every order.