Dwyane Wade’s daughter has known she was trans since she was three years old
Dwyane Wade has said that his daughter has known she is trans since age three.
Dwyane Wade has said that his daughter has known she is trans since age three.
The ex-NBA player, who has four children with his wife Gabrielle Union, revealed that his 12-year-old Zaya is transgender in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres last week, ahead of the release of a documentary about their family life.
The story has generated a large reaction – and some inevitable hate. Wade made an appearance on Good Morning America to address the issue on Tuesday.
Dwyane Wade says daughter Zaya isn’t that interested in the publicity.
He said of Zaya’s response to the publicity: “She’s a kid that wants to focus on school. Today she has a mock trial at school, and she’s like, ‘I came out to everyone because I wanted to be me. I’m thankful that I’m able to be me, but I need to focus on my trial at school!’
“For my wife and my family, we love the fact she doesn’t have to hide who she is.”
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
He added that he had wrestled with whether to be public about his daughter’s identity at such a young age.
Wade added: “I struggled on how much I wanted to talk about… I knew if I put it in the doc, it would be a big conversation.
“We struggled with that, because she’s 12, and what people would say about a 12-year-old making a decision about her life.
“But we know our child, and it’s our job as parents to find the most information we can. We’ve reached out to people and researched as many things as we can to try to help, not only our family, but other people in this journey and along the way.”
We were ‘ignorant’ before Zaya came out, former NBA star says.
Wade added that he had been “ignorant” about trans issues before his daughter came out – moving him and Union to do research.
Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union and their children Zaya, 12 and Kaavia James, one. (Instagram)
He said: “I’ve been a person in a locker room that has been a part of the conversation that has said the wrong phrases and the wrong words myself (…) 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 – because as parents, we put our hopes and our fears on our kids.
“With Zaya, we decided to listen to her. She’s leading us along this journey.
“She’s known it for nine years. She’s known since she was three years old along this way we’ve asked questions and we’ve learned. But she’s known.”
