I guess this is good content as far as it goes--you definitely make a very astute point about some questions just being transphobic.

But your title promised something else, which you didn't talk about.

Firstly, you're assuming that "concerns about trans people" necessarily means "transphobic". Let's assume that's true for now, and ask: how can someone ask a transphobic question without being lumped in with the transphobes?

That's what you promised you'd tell us in the title, right?

Here's what you say: You are confusing a person’s identity with their position.

But who is doing the confusing? Another Medium author wrote something along the lines of: "Literally the only reason to be against trans women competing with cis women in sports is if you're transphobic."

The message was very, very clear: you cannot take this position or ask this question without you, yourself being a transphobe. Not your position. You.

So, given that people have outlooks like that, if someone does have concerns about trans women competing against cis women, what do they do except get labeled a transphobe?

So, the question remains unanswered: how do you ask a (genuinely, but perhaps not perceived-by-the-asker-as) transphobic question without lots of people confusing the your identity with your question? Maybe you genuinely don't see what is wrong with the question and would like to hear a reply...maybe if you're lucky you at least know you have to shut up and hold your tongue because otherwise you're a "transphobe".

And then there's the next question, which is whether it's possible to have "concerns about trans people" without the concern actually being transphobic. Depending whether the implication is "all trans people, simply by virtue of being trans" and "the concern is not purely concern for their welfare" or whether it is "some trans people, about aspects that are not intrinsic to being trans" and "the concern is that they're making a mistake which may affect their welfare too", I think the answer may either be clear or not.

But leaving that aside, what about the simple case of the question actually being transphobic. Social media is stellar at condemning a person's intrinsic character as irredeemable if they voice one question or opinion that has a negative outlook about the wrong thing.

So, what does one do? Do you have ideas?