NBA star Dwyane Wade, who gave a powerful speech about accepting his transgender child on Stephen Jackson and Barnes’ “All The Smoke” podcast in December, joined Ellen and revealed more about how he and wife Gabrielle Union are learning about her gender identity.
Said Wade: “First of all, me and my wife Gabrielle, we are proud parents of a child in the LGBTQ+ community and we are proud allies as well. We take our roles and responsibilities as parents very seriously. So when our child comes home with a question, our child comes home with an issue, our child comes home with anything, it’s our job as parents to listen to that, to give them the best information we can, to give the best feedback we can. And that doesn’t change because sexuality is now involved in it.”
“Once Zaya, our 12-year-old, came home… first, Zion,” added Wade. “I don’t know if everyone knows, originally named Zion. Zion, born as a boy, came home and said, ‘Hey, so I want to talk to you guys. I think going forward, I’m ready to live my truth. And I want to be referenced as she and her. I’d love for you guys to call me Zaya.”
“So, that was our job to go out and get information, to reach out to every relationship we have,” Wade continued. “My wife reached out to everybody on the cast of Pose. We just tried to figure out as much information as we [could] to make sure we give our child the best opportunity to be her best self. …. Once Zion came home and said ‘call me Zaya‘ and was ready to take on this, I looked at her and said, ‘You are a leader. It’s our opportunity to allow you to be a voice.’ Right now it’s through us, because she’s 12 years old, but eventually it will be through her.”
