I'm a brown haired person. I'm also a person with brown hair. Neither phrasing makes my brown hair a disease I carry.
IMO, the point in these cases is more that a certain phrase has obtained a negative connotation, and should be avoided, but it is framed in some Sapir-Whorf-like style.
If one cannot analyze words to w/i an inch of death, what is one to do on the internet other than speak in the 3rd person?
I am an empathetic person.