Dwayne Wade opens up about raising his transgender child: ‘Our home will never be a safe space for bigots’

NBA star Dwyane Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, opened up about raising their 13-year-old transgender child, Zaya.

The child, who was born a biological male, announced that they were female in 2020.

At the time, Wade said, "Me and my wife ... are proud parents of a child in the LGBTQ+ community and we're proud allies as well. We take our roles and responsibility and parents very seriously."

What are the details?

In a recent interview with People, Wade and Union said that they fully support their child and that their home will "never be a safe space for bigots."

Wade and Union said that when Zaya was just three years old, the two began discussing "possibilities" regarding the child's future.

"We decided to approach it a different way," Wade said. "I come from a locker room of a macho, male-dominated sport. But I started learning and I started to watch her. And from then on, we started having more conversations."

Union said that when Zaya first came out as transgender, she didn't have many resources, but she was determined to support Zaya any which way possible.

"We weren't coming into it like it's got to be our way," she said. "We're going to mess up. We're going to say the wrong thing. But we had to learn and be led."

Wade explained, "When I look at Zaya, I get hope. Because I'm like, OK, we raised [our kids] to be authentic."

Wade and Union added that Zaya recently had a Zoom call with former first lady Michelle Obama.

"We were all bawling!" Union recalled. "She was so amazing and dynamic, and to be able to hold your own with Michelle Obama, it was so impactful."

She added, "Our home will never be a safe space for bigots. I look at problematic language as violence and I'm never going to expose anyone I love to violence, whether that be verbal, physical, emotional, or spiritual. Jerks exist in every area of life. And we function from a place of truth in our household. But if you come at us, oh. Be very prepared."

Wade concluded, "What I love about our home is that everybody is unique. And we allow their uniqueness to shine."