Dwyane Wade ‘Proud’ to Support Transgender Child, Become ‘Allies’ with LGBT Community

Dwyane Wade
Getty Images/Sarah Stier
Warner Todd Huston

Former NBA star Dwyane Wade has announced his support for his son, who now claims to be a transgender girl.

Wade’s 12-year-old son, Zion Malachi Airamis Wade, now wants to be called Zaya, the player told TV host Ellen DeGeneres this week.

“Me and my wife, my wife Gabrielle Union…we are proud parents of a child in the LGBTQ+ community, and we’re proud allies as well,” Wade told DeGeneres on her Tuesday broadcast. “We take our roles and responsibility as parents very seriously.”

Wade went on to explain that his son now wants to live “her truth.”

“Zion, born as a boy, came home and said, ‘Hey, so I want to talk to you guys. I think going forward, I am ready to live my truth. I want to be referenced as ‘she’ and ‘her.’ I would love for you guys to call me Zaya,'” Wade said.

“When our child comes home with a question, when our child comes home with an issue, when our child comes home with anything, it’s our job as parents to listen to that, to give them the best information that we can, the best feedback that we can,” Wade added. “And that doesn’t change because sexuality is now involved in it.”

Wade said that he and his wife are now working on getting as informed as possible on transgender issues.

“Now it’s our job to one, go out and get information, to reach out to every relationship that we have,” Wade told DeGeneres. “We’re just trying to figure out as much information as we can to make sure that we give our child the best opportunity to be her best self.”

Wade’s actress wife, Gabrielle Union, took to Twitter to introduce “Zaya.”

In the video Union added to her tweet, the 12-year-old is heard telling Wade, “You gotta just push through, I mean it’s worth it, I feel like it’s very worth it, when you reach that point of like, yourself.”

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