Dwyane Wade has been the biggest supporter of his 13-year-old daughter Zaya, who revealed last year that she is transgender. The retired NBA champion appeared on the “I Am Athlete” podcast on Monday, March 22, 2021, and spoke with the hosts, NFL stars Brandon Marshall, Chad Johnson, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder, about Zaya’s announcement and what caused the family to go public.
“Are you doing it for your child or are you doing it for you? Me and my wife had this conversation,” Wade explained. “Are we protecting Zaya? Are we keeping her out of pictures, are we not saying anything because it’s for her protection, or is it for our protection as the ones that’s out there in the public eye knowing the scrutiny that’s gonna come back?
“And so, once I seen her bravery to come out and have the confidence to speak her truth — because I know so many people, we have friends who 20, 30, 40 years hid from who they really were — and when I seen an 8-year-old have the confidence to come out say, ‘Dad, family, this is who I am,’ it was nothing else I could do but support that because I know how hard it is. Even as a 39-year-old man, it’s hard for me to come out sometime and say how I really feel, or certain things about myself I still keep it hidden because of maybe what the world will say,” Wade said.
The former Miami Heat All-Star also stated this his child gave his family strength and that Zaya is still evolving in her young life.
“So, I look at my child, and I say thank you for leading the way. Now let me take it from here. Because I am your father, I am in the public eye. You sit back. We will take it from here. You led the way. You gave us the confidence to step out and say our child is this, and understand this, it’s ever-evolving. Who our child is today, may not be who our child is in 10 years. We’re going down this journey with our child, and as you guys know, the person you was at 20 is not the person you was at 30, is not who you’re going to be at 40, 50 and so on…”
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