It was back in February of this year when the Wade's formally introduced Zaya Wade to the world. The 12-year-old daughter of NBA icon Dwyane Wade and stepdaughter to actress Gabrielle Union was announced to be transgender, and what followed has been a year filled with critiques and commentary from the public about Zaya now wanting to be referred to as a girl and not a boy. Gabrielle Union recently sat down with Taraji P. Henson and Tracie Jade for their show Peace of Mind on Facebook Watch where Mrs. Wade explained why Zaya felt Black bloggers outed her to the world before she was ready.
“As Zaya gathered more language she was able to tell us about her identity, she was able to tell us about her sexuality and she was able to tell us ‘I’m trans,'" said Union. "And she says ‘I've come out a few times...I came out to my teacher in the 3rd grade, and when you guys posted that picture of me, in Chicago at my birthday party.'"
"It's just Zaya standing next to her cake and that picture was dissected on certain Black blogs and the comments were guessing as to who Zaya was and why," Union continued. "She said, ‘I felt like I was outed, and I was just standing next to my cake.’ And then she spoke of coming out again when she was like ‘I’m trans, and I’m demisexual, and I’m not bound by gender in terms of attraction.’”
Watch Gabrielle, Taraji, and Tracie talk about Zaya Wade and mental health below.