Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dwyane Wade Says Transgender Child Was Aware of Gender Identity at Age 3 [VIDEO]

MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 09: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat hugs his son, Zion Wade, after his final career home game at American Airlines Arena on April 09, 2019 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

*Dwyane Wade claims that his 12-year-old son Zion knew at an early age that God made a mistake by making him a boy.

The retired NBA star has opened up to Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” about how he is supporting his son’s gender transition into Zaya, a girl who likes to wear press-on nails and crop tops.

Wade revealed that Zaya — whom he shares with ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches — has been aware of her gender identity since she was a toddler.

“She’s known it for nine years. She’s known since she was 3 years old,” Wade said, PEOPLE reports. “Along this way we’ve asked questions and we’ve learned. But she’s known.”

When asked how long he’s known, Wade explained… “I knew early on that I had to check myself. That’s what I knew. I knew early on that I had to ask myself questions.”

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He added, “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,” Wade continued. “As I got older and I watched my daughter grow, I had to go and 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 trans girl.” What are you going to do?’ That was my moment of real.”

Wade admits he never had anyone else in his life come out “as gay, as trans, as anything.”

“My daughter was my first interaction when it comes to having to deal with this conversation,” he said. “Hopefully I’m dealing with it the right way. Some people feel that I’m not. But inside our home, we see the smile on her face. We see the confidence that she’s able to walk around and be herself. And that’s when you know you’re doing right.”

Wade claims his child helped educate him and his wife Gabrielle Union on what it means to be transgender.

“She is our leader,” Wade said. “I think when the conversation we had — the one thing about it, for parents, is have conversations with your kids. Zaya, early on, knew two things. She knew straight and she knew gay. But Zaya started doing more research.”

He continued, “She is the one who sat down with us as a family and said, ‘Hey, I don’t think I’m gay.’ And she went down the list. ‘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.’ So 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.”

“As parents, we put our hopes and we put our fears on our kids,” he said. “With Zaya, we decided to listen to her. And she’s walking us on the journey.”

“I’m not going to sit here and act like we have all the answers,” Wade shared. “I’m not going to sit here and act like before our child sat us down that we weren’t ignorant parents. When I say we’re learning from our 12-year-old, we’re literally learning from our child.”

You can listen to Wade’s full interview in the video above, and hear more from Zaya below:

 

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