A grade school-aged child is reportedly heading up the family unit in the household of retired NBA legend Dwyane Wade.
Opening up Tuesday in an interview with Robin Roberts on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Wade spoke more fully about the recent public announcement his son Zion is now claiming female gender identity.
According to the proud father, Zion, now going by Zaya and leaning into gender transition at the ripe old age of 12, has shown immense bravery in coming out as transgender and, as a result, taken on a key role as “leader” of the Wade family.
“For her and myself and my wife and our family, we love the fact that she doesn’t have to hide who she is,” Wade told Roberts.
“She is our leader,” Wade added.
Closing arguments conclude in Lindsay Clancy trial as prosecutors argue murders were ‘a choice’
US opposes 9/11 attackers’ Supreme Court bid to avoid death penalty
Trump administration designates three far-left groups as violent terrorist networks under new sanctions
US celebrates breakthrough as Syrian paramilitary group dissolves, signaling ‘bright future’ for once-fractured state
Dem’s metldown over ‘terrorist sympathizer’ Hasan Piker triggers instant conservative mockery: ‘Yikes’
Deranged Video: Dem’s OK Senate Candidate Storms Into Bedroom Shrieking, Cuts Up Pic of GOP Senator, Pastes Into ‘Burn Book’
Priceless: Watch Trump Personally Renames Lake Ontario to Lake America on His Own Map – ‘Now We Have a Lake… and a Gulf’
Soros prosecutor in danger of being removed after grieving mom’s desperate alarm: ‘Can’t believe this’
Judge sentences Feeding Our Future fraudsters who faked running child nutrition site
Top 10 fugitive captured after Georgia manhunt as police probe woman’s mysterious death
Bryan Kohberger’s 2027 hearing is not guaranteed as Idaho seeks quick dismissal
Thousands missing from dozens of countries after Nepal flooding
Iran and Oman come to agreement to open Strait of Hormuz, but await US buy-in
Newsom: ‘I Didn’t Even Know’ Home Had 5,000-Bottle Wine Cellar
Charles Barkley Takes Major Stand With Sophie Cunningham, Enes Kanter on Trans Players – ‘It’s in the Title: WNBA’
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/ZdCAUU3gAQ pic.twitter.com/Bf6xUJQvcx
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 18, 2020
Initial reports surrounding Zaya’s coming out initially spun up in the summer of 2019, according to HuffPost, when Wade and wife Gabrielle Union posted photos of their son at Miami’s LGBT pride parade.
In the months that followed, Zaya apparently came to realize an attraction to boys did not simply making him gay, but in fact transgender — something the minor had supposedly known deep down for many years.
“She’s known it for nine years, since she was 3 years old,” Wade told GMA.
“Zaya early on knew two things. She knew straight and she knew gay,” Wade said.
“But Zaya started doing more research. She was the one that sat down with us as a family and said, ‘Hey I don’t think I’m gay.’
Closing arguments conclude in Lindsay Clancy trial as prosecutors argue murders were ‘a choice’
US opposes 9/11 attackers’ Supreme Court bid to avoid death penalty
Trump administration designates three far-left groups as violent terrorist networks under new sanctions
US celebrates breakthrough as Syrian paramilitary group dissolves, signaling ‘bright future’ for once-fractured state
Dem’s metldown over ‘terrorist sympathizer’ Hasan Piker triggers instant conservative mockery: ‘Yikes’
Deranged Video: Dem’s OK Senate Candidate Storms Into Bedroom Shrieking, Cuts Up Pic of GOP Senator, Pastes Into ‘Burn Book’
Priceless: Watch Trump Personally Renames Lake Ontario to Lake America on His Own Map – ‘Now We Have a Lake… and a Gulf’
Soros prosecutor in danger of being removed after grieving mom’s desperate alarm: ‘Can’t believe this’
Judge sentences Feeding Our Future fraudsters who faked running child nutrition site
Top 10 fugitive captured after Georgia manhunt as police probe woman’s mysterious death
Bryan Kohberger’s 2027 hearing is not guaranteed as Idaho seeks quick dismissal
Thousands missing from dozens of countries after Nepal flooding
Iran and Oman come to agreement to open Strait of Hormuz, but await US buy-in
Newsom: ‘I Didn’t Even Know’ Home Had 5,000-Bottle Wine Cellar
Charles Barkley Takes Major Stand With Sophie Cunningham, Enes Kanter on Trans Players – ‘It’s in the Title: WNBA’
“And she went down the list and said, ‘This is how I identify myself, this is my gender identity. I identify myself as a young lady. I think I’m a straight trans, because I like boys,’” he added.
The retired athlete had not spoken as frequently about his son’s transition in recent months, posting from time to time on social media and briefly discussing the parenting implications on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” earlier this month.
But with “D. Wade: Life Unexpected,” an ESPN career documentary 10 years in the making, nearing release and in- art detailing the transition, Wade has grown increasingly more vocal, taking the experience as a call to become an empowered and outspoken LGBT “ally” and transgender advocate.
In fact, according to Wade, the experience has led him to believe gender transitions among are the “new normal.” Those who believe otherwise, he told “All The Smoke” podcast hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson in December — they are the ones who are “different.”
D. Wade: Life Unexpected premieres February 23 on ESPN at 9 pm ET.
But first, @dwyanewade had to surprise the students at his alma mater with a first look at the film. pic.twitter.com/LxhEHg2GPH
— ESPN (@espn) February 15, 2020
Closing arguments conclude in Lindsay Clancy trial as prosecutors argue murders were ‘a choice’
US opposes 9/11 attackers’ Supreme Court bid to avoid death penalty
Trump administration designates three far-left groups as violent terrorist networks under new sanctions
US celebrates breakthrough as Syrian paramilitary group dissolves, signaling ‘bright future’ for once-fractured state
Dem’s metldown over ‘terrorist sympathizer’ Hasan Piker triggers instant conservative mockery: ‘Yikes’
Deranged Video: Dem’s OK Senate Candidate Storms Into Bedroom Shrieking, Cuts Up Pic of GOP Senator, Pastes Into ‘Burn Book’
Priceless: Watch Trump Personally Renames Lake Ontario to Lake America on His Own Map – ‘Now We Have a Lake… and a Gulf’
Soros prosecutor in danger of being removed after grieving mom’s desperate alarm: ‘Can’t believe this’
Judge sentences Feeding Our Future fraudsters who faked running child nutrition site
Top 10 fugitive captured after Georgia manhunt as police probe woman’s mysterious death
Bryan Kohberger’s 2027 hearing is not guaranteed as Idaho seeks quick dismissal
Thousands missing from dozens of countries after Nepal flooding
Iran and Oman come to agreement to open Strait of Hormuz, but await US buy-in
Newsom: ‘I Didn’t Even Know’ Home Had 5,000-Bottle Wine Cellar
Charles Barkley Takes Major Stand With Sophie Cunningham, Enes Kanter on Trans Players – ‘It’s in the Title: WNBA’
The retired NBA star told Ellen DeGeneres that he takes his role as an LGBTQ ally for 12-year-old Zaya "very seriously." https://t.co/Mrz8uDs3FW
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) February 12, 2020
The upcoming documentary is said to detail Wade’s storied NBA career, focusing on the Miami Heat star’s final years in the league and the growing family dynamic that brought him away from the game of basketball.
Apparently, however, Wade did not step away from basketball to better lead his family.
Instead, he stepped away to learn a thing or two from his children, letting them lead him — even in through their own adolescent crises of identity.
“I knew early on that I had to check myself,” Wade told Roberts, “that I had to ask myself questions.”
“As I got older and as I watched my daughter grow I had to go look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘Who are you? What are you going to do if your child comes home and says dad, I’m not a boy, I’m a gay boy, or I’m a trans girl — what are you gonna do?’ And for me that was a moment of real.”
Closing arguments conclude in Lindsay Clancy trial as prosecutors argue murders were ‘a choice’
US opposes 9/11 attackers’ Supreme Court bid to avoid death penalty
Trump administration designates three far-left groups as violent terrorist networks under new sanctions
US celebrates breakthrough as Syrian paramilitary group dissolves, signaling ‘bright future’ for once-fractured state
Dem’s metldown over ‘terrorist sympathizer’ Hasan Piker triggers instant conservative mockery: ‘Yikes’
Deranged Video: Dem’s OK Senate Candidate Storms Into Bedroom Shrieking, Cuts Up Pic of GOP Senator, Pastes Into ‘Burn Book’
Priceless: Watch Trump Personally Renames Lake Ontario to Lake America on His Own Map – ‘Now We Have a Lake… and a Gulf’
Soros prosecutor in danger of being removed after grieving mom’s desperate alarm: ‘Can’t believe this’
Judge sentences Feeding Our Future fraudsters who faked running child nutrition site
Top 10 fugitive captured after Georgia manhunt as police probe woman’s mysterious death
Bryan Kohberger’s 2027 hearing is not guaranteed as Idaho seeks quick dismissal
Thousands missing from dozens of countries after Nepal flooding
Iran and Oman come to agreement to open Strait of Hormuz, but await US buy-in
Newsom: ‘I Didn’t Even Know’ Home Had 5,000-Bottle Wine Cellar
Charles Barkley Takes Major Stand With Sophie Cunningham, Enes Kanter on Trans Players – ‘It’s in the Title: WNBA’
“It was a process for us to sit down with our daughter and find out who she is and what she likes and not put something on her,” Wade also said. “We decided to listen to [Zaya] and she’s leading us on this journey.”
“My daughter was my first interaction when it comes to having to deal with this conversation. Hopefully I’m dealing with it the right way,” he later added.
Story cited here.
