“Active Daddy-Daughter Moments”: Zaya Wade Opens Up About Helping Father Dwyane Wade Understand Her Identity Better

Throughout Dwyane Wade’s illustrious NBA career, he stood in the face of various challenges. Basketball paled in comparison to navigating his daughter Zaya’s identity. The situation brought fear from both sides, but a willing trust opened the door for light to pave the way for a new beginning.

Wade had no inkling of preparation of how to react to Zaya’s coming out. He grew up in an environment where an individual transitioning not only didn’t occur, but many frowned upon it. Although unwillingly, a bit of ignorance grew within Wade due to his lack of education on the matter.

Of course, the three-time NBA champion had heard of people who transitioned. The difference in this situation is that it involved one of his loved ones.

“When it’s someone you don’t know or you don’t love, or don’t care to get to know, you just don’t,” Wade said on the Time Out podcast. “This is my child. I’m in love with my kids.”

Wade’s heart was in the right place, but forming a comfortable atmosphere doesn’t happen overnight. Dwyane had to approach the matter with great sensitivity. After all, Zaya boldly came out as transgender at the young age of 12.

Many adults who transition are afraid of how their parents will react. The father of five had to put the groundwork in to build trust with his daughter. Especially in a country that has begun to criminalize the existence of trans people, Wade made sure to put the work in to create a safe space for his daughter to trust him.

“We have two to four-hour conversations, and it’s a safe space,” Wade revealed. “We built that kind of communication, that safe environment.”

The 13-time All-Star’s efforts went a mighty long way. Zaya’s fear and concerns began to wash away the more she witnessed her father’s willingness to learn more about her, which helped her learn more about herself.

“I don’t know everything, so I can’t present everything to you. It kind of has to be natural. I think that’s a big part of the learning curve for the two of us is just more active daddy-daughter moments,” Zaya said.

Neither Zaya nor Dwyane understand how to perfectly go about their relationship. One thing they do understand is that they are both experiencing things for the first time. Mistakes will occur, but healthy communication will lead to a solution.

As a result, the two have developed an ideal father-daughter dynamic, which has become the blueprint for other parents with a transgender child. Wade and his wife Gabrielle Union have been universally praised for being so supportive of trans kids and for launching Translatable, an online safe-space for children all over the world.