Dwyane Wade’s Candid Talk About Supporting His 12-Year-Old's Gender Identity

Thanks for being here. Thank you. That was a clip from the ESPN documentary. And first of all, I just-- I think it's what every-- you know, every parent should be is what you're being right now, which is unconditionally loving your child and

supporting

your child-- Thank you. --in whoever they are. I mean-- Thank you. That's-- there are so many parents that are just, oh, you're not going the way I imagined or wanted you to be and freak out. And you're so loving and

supportive of Zaya. And what a special child she is. Yeah, she is, she is. Thank you so much for that. First of all, me and my wife, my wife Gabrielle Union, we are proud, when I say proud, we are proud parents of a child in the LGBTQ+ community. And we're proud allies as well. And we take our roles and our responsibility as parents very seriously. So when our child comes home with a question, when our child comes home with a issue, when our child comes home with anything, it's our job

as parents to listen to that, to give them the best information that we can, the best feedback that we can, and that doesn't change because sexuality is now involved in it. So once Zaya, our 12-

year

-old came home-- and first Zion-- everybody-- I don't know if everyone knows-- originally named Zion, Zion born as a boy, came home and said, hey, so I want to

talk

to you guys. 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. And so internally, now it's our job to, one, go out and get information, to reach out to every relationship that we have. My wife reached out to everybody on the cast of "Pose." And we're just trying to figure out as much information we can to make sure that we give our child the best opportunity to be, you know, her best self. Yeah. I mean, I would think that it's one thing-- It's one thing to have this at home, but knowing that she's

going to be out in the world-- Yeah. --because you're a public figure, and even if you weren't, she's going to school, and to want to be protective and to make sure she's safe-- Yes. --that must be a scary thing, because it's one thing for you to love her and your wife to love her, but that must-- you just want everyone to love her the same way. Exactly. And once Zaya came home and said, hey, you call me Zion, I'm ready to take on this, I looked at her and said, you are a

leader. 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

year

s old. But eventually, it will be through her. Right. Well, and GLSEN is an organization you're working with. And there's a lot of-- if anybody else there-- out there can relate to this and needs help, you can go to our website and we can direct you, because I'm sure there are a lot of people that just don't know what to do. Yeah. So you're

a great example. Thank you. The-- I know that everybody is still grieving over the loss of Kobe-- Yeah. --and all the people that we lost on-- you must have a lot of memories of Kobe. And he was-- he was just such a light, wasn't he? He was just such a bright, bright light. He was special. I mean, I think my favorite-- you know, we all have stories and moments of our interactions with Kobe. But I think what was special

about

him and why you see so many guys in the NBA or so many younger guys

really tore up

about

this is because he was the first superstar that really embraced different generations, really embraced us. And I think from, like, 2008 on, from the Olympics on, he really put his arms around us, as competitors, and the rest of the world. You saw him being more involved in so many different sports, not just basketball and soccer, obviously, with his daughter and women basketball. But he just started being a person that everybody can call and reach out to and say, hey, Kobe,

I have a question. So I'm going to miss that example-- Yeah. --not only just my friend, but that example that he was setting not only for me, but with so many others. Yep. Yep. Well said. He was a good guy. Yeah. You're a good guy. You've got to see the documentary. It's called D.

Wade

, Life Unexpected. It airs Sunday, February 23, at 9:00 on ESPN. We'll be right back.