During an appearance Tuesday on Ellen
DeGeneres' daytime talk show, Dwyane Wade shared the proud moment his
12-year-old daughter came out as transgender to him and his wife,
actress Gabrielle Union.
The former professional basketball
player told DeGeneres that his daughter Zaya told him and his wife
that she wanted to start using female pronouns.
“First of all, me and my wife
Gabrielle Union, we are proud, when I say proud, we are proud parents
of a child in the LGBTQ+ community,” he said. “And we're proud
allies as well. And we take our roles and responsibilities as parents
very seriously.”
Wade said that it was the parents'
responsibility to listen to their child.
“That doesn't change because
sexuality is now involved in it,” Wade said. “And so once Zaya,
our 12-year-old came home … and said, 'Hey, I want to talk to you
guys, you know, I think going forward, I'm ready to live my truth and
I want to be referenced as she and her. I would love for you guys to
call me Zaya.”
DeGeneres cheered Wade for not
“freaking out” like other parents do when their children “don't
go the way” they imagined.
Wade added that his wife reached out to
the cast of FX's Pose to gather “as much information as we
can to make sure that we give our child the best opportunity to be,
you know, her best self.”
Zaya is one of two children Wade had
with ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches.