The Wade’s have been very open about the changes that their family is experiencing, and how they’ve learned to love their daughter, Zaya Wade. And while they have been facing a lot of criticism, DwyaneWade opens up about what the learning process has been for his family. He even says Zaya has been their “leader”, as she has introduced the family to gender identities they had not been aware of previously.
According to D. Wade, the road to acceptance and learning hasn’t been easy, especially being an NBA superstar. He says at one point, he had to check himself because he too would engage in not-so-nice locker room conversations about people of the LGBTQ+ community.
And while Zaya continues to grow and accept who she is, Dwyane says she and his family are following right behind her, and encouraging her every step of the way.
“Zaya early on knew two things. She knew straight and she knew gay, but Zaya started to do more research,” he says. “She was the one who sat down with us as a family and said I don’t think I’m gay. She said ‘I identify myself as a young lady. I think I’m a straight trans because I still like boys.”
As we previously reported, Zaya Wade, previously known as Zion, announced to her parents that she no longer identified as male. She changed her name, and her pronouns, and the Wade family is right behind her.
“As parents, we put our hopes and our fears on our kids, and with Zaya we decided to listen to her and she’s leading us along this journey.”
Dwyane continues, speaking on how his family is sticking together and growing together, while Zaya’s only desire is to live in her truth and focus on being a 12-year-old kid!
