Dwyane Wade Recalled the Beautiful Moment His Child Came Out as Transgender

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Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union are demonstrating what it means to be unconditionally supportive parents. On Tuesday, the retired NBA all-star sat down on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he opened up about his 12-year-old child's gender identity and how he and Gabrielle have gone above and beyond to support Zaya.

"First of all, me and my wife, Gabrielle, we are proud parents of a child in the LGBTQ+ community, and we're proud allies as well," he told Ellen. "We take our roles and responsibilities as parents very seriously, so when a child comes home with a question, when a child comes home with an issue, it's our job as parents to listen to that and to give them the best information that we can. That doesn't change because sexuality is now involved in it."

Dwyane recalled the conversation that took place when his child opened up about her gender identity. She told her parents she "was ready to live her truth" and that she wanted to use she/her pronouns. "'I would love for you guys to call me Zaya,'" Dwyane remembered her saying. "Internally now it's our job to go out and get information, to reach out to every relationship that we have," the proud father explained. Dwyane said Gabrielle reached out to the cast of Pose. "We're just trying to figure out as much information we can to make sure we give our child the best opportunities to be her best self."

"I looked at her and said, 'You are a leader, and this is our opportunity to allow you to be a voice.'"

Dwyane added, "Once Zion came home and said, 'Call me Zaya,' I looked at her and said, 'You are a leader, and this is our opportunity to allow you to be a voice.' Right now it's through us because she's 12 years old, but eventually it'll be through her." Watch the beautiful clip above.


In this photo released by Warner Bros., talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is seen during a taping of
Michael Rozman | Warner Bros.