HMRC gives trans people access to VIP hotline

So, hang on, why the fuss at all? If somebody's sex makes no difference to how they will be treated, why bother to record it in the first place, or make a hoo-hah if they want to claim to be a sex other than the one they originally were?

(I have been saying this about all sorts of things, mostly "nobody except a medic needs to know my sex on a form", since the early nineteen-sixties.)

The different contact number, yes. But trans people would only have had access after 2004.

I wonder if this is the start of the media investigating how much privacy a GRC gives?

I'm pretty sure it's been in place for quite a lot longer than that.

Agree, but it sounds as thought the system was set up when GRCs were introduced.

It sounds as though this has always been the case, and it's just the logical result of changing somebody's tax records.

Yep.

What "circumstances"?

Sure, if you want. You can even fully identify as a man, if you want. That's kind of the point.

The pension ages for men & women were equalised in 2018. Nobody getting a GRC needs to inform HMRC to update their pension entitlement to reflect their new legal sex because their pension entitlement is the same regardless of sex.

Please tell me how someone’s sexual orientation could be revealed in their tax return? And how HMRC would hold that data?

You can do what you like. If you don’t want to state your sex that’s fine. I can’t remember a time where I had to state to colleagues that I am a woman. Obviously that’s not going to impact on whether I experience misogyny.
The trans thing is different because the very essence of it is a change of legal sex and seeking to present to the world as the opposite sex to that at birth. Sometimes fairly successfully, sometimes not. Someone finding out your trans status and previous name might not be what someone wants, even if others argue that it’s obvious to the world that they are trans. It’s still a privacy thing and something people are entitled to keep to themselves if they want. Same as how it’s private that someone is gay or disabled.

Are you literally this thick? It’s not even a special hotline and it’s definitely not designed to queue jump or get your query dealt with better. It’s sensitive data related and it’s not just for trans people. Why would a gay or disabled person need to use it? What sensitive data does HMRC hold on them?

So why do disabled abd gay people not have access to this hotline?

This article is really overstating the supposed "exclusivity" of the HMRC helpline.
That's the same line I had to use to update my tax credits when I was a lowly caseworker for an MP.
No idea why people that work for MPs had access to it. Never did me any good anyway because I would invariably forget the special number and have to ring to normal one to get redirected.

So what rights nd privacy do trans people not have that everyone else does?

I see. So am I allowed to conceal the fact that I'm a woman in order to avoid misogyny and sexual harassment?
If not, why not?

No one else has the right to keep their sex private for official purposes
Why should people who have acquired a falsified birth certificate have that right?

It's scarcely possible to keep it a secret in real life in any case, and even if it were, it's at the very least morally ambiguous to do so in certain circumstances.

No. I'm not on board at all with the notion that it's some sort of right to conceal or attempt to conceal your sex.
There are too many circumstances where it needs to be known.

PD1 is absolutely nothing to get excited about - it’s more of a ball ache than normal HMRC.

If you’re PD1 your online access is usually very limited (that means submitting paper tax returns!) and it’s actually really hard to get through to anyone on the phone. I have ended up calling the normal number and the getting them to email the relevant colleagues to ask for a call back, it’s so annoying.

It’s not just celebs, politicians and trans people, there are loads of MOD and MOJ employees that are within PD1. All judges and retired judges are, for example.

The reason is because of you, and people of your ilk. You know that, and that's why you don't like it. The idea of trans people being protected from people who hate them, or the idea you could be unknowingly working alongside a trans person and missing the opportunity to bully them is the problem.

According to the government website, it's HMRC's responsibility to inform the DWP when someone legally changes gender since you can't update this information with them directly

Well yes. That's kind of what I said. We have embedded a lie in our legal system and procedures have had to be built up around that lie to protect it, of which the special hotline is one. People who object to the legal lie will probably object to the support systems too. I don't think you will find many people objecting to witness protection schemes and their support structures.

Someone else may have pointed this out already - I haven't read to the end of the thread yet - but HMRC does not deal with pension entitlement (that's up to DWP) only how much tax is paid on that pension which has nothing to do with one's sex or gender.

Biologically, no. I agree.

Legally, we have a system where people can be considered the other sex. Whether that's right or wrong is whole other debate - the fact is that it's the system we have right now and under that law those who've undergone gender reassignment have particular protections, as does anyone who has a protected characteristic.

Organisations, like HMRC, therefore need to manage client data accordingly where it's relevant for them to do so. Hence the access to the PD1 line.

The right is the one to not have your GRC / sex-change status outed to all and sundry by a third party (HMRC in this particular instance).

There does not exist a single person in the whole history of humans who has changed sex. The law should never have pretended otherwise. It's not fair on the person themselves to affirm the lie, and it has led to a fracture in society - as lies always will.
The GRC is the lie and the prevention of 'outing' is to protect the lie.