Dwyane Wade: My Transgender Daughter Knew Her Identity At 3 Years Old
Dwyane Wade has continued to open up about his journey as the parent of a transgender daughter, crediting 12-year-old Zaya with being his family’s “leader” in what’s seemingly turned out to be a life-changing process.
During a Tuesday appearance on “Good Morning America,” the retired NBA legend said he had never had a close relationship with a member of the LGBTQ community before Zaya, whom he said was 3 years old when she first identified as transgender.
“Zaya, early on, knew two things,” Wade told host Robin Roberts. “She knew ‘straight’ and she knew ‘gay.’ But Zaya started doing more research. ... She went down the list and said, ‘This is how I identify myself. This is my gender identity.’”
The retired NBA star said he and his wife, Gabrielle Union, took the moment as an opportunity to “sit down with our daughter and find out who she is and what she likes and not put something on her.”
“As parents, we put our hopes and our fears on our kids,” he added. “With Zaya, we decided to listen to her. She’s leading us along this journey.”
FULL INTERVIEW: NBA superstar @DwyaneWade opens up to @robinroberts about daughter Zaya’s gender identity and why it was important to feature this journey his new @ESPN documentary. https://t.co/ZdCAUU3gAQpic.twitter.com/Bf6xUJQvcx
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 18, 2020
Wade, who is also dad to Zaire Blessing Dwyane, 18, Xavier Zechariah, 6, and Kaavia James, 15 months, touches on his daughter’s gender identity in a new ESPN documentary, “D. Wade: Life Unexpected.”
He demonstrated his support for Zaya in an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” last week, explaining that he took his relatively newfound role as an LGBTQ ally “very seriously.” That same day, Union ― who is Zaya’s stepmother ― shared a short video of Zaya on social media in an effort to encourage others to “listen to, love [and] respect” their children as they...
