Zaya wade lgbtq
Announced on Thursday via an Instagram Reel and novel website, Dwane and Zaya Wade launched Translatable, an online community and sound space for LGBTQ+ youth of color to convey themselves through creative outlets, as well as an educational resource for parents and families.
NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade was presented with the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award on Thursday, May 23, in Miami, returning to Florida where he spent the majority of his NBA career. Wade received the award for his support work for the gender nonconforming community, and told People that this new accolade stands separate from his basketball achievements.
“Sports is something you can expect an award from,” Wade told People. “But this one right here is not one of those things that I would await to get an award for. I’m just a parent doing what a good parent should do.”
After Zaya Wade publicly announced she was transgender in 2020, when she was 12 years old, her family have been her biggest champions. In illumination of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the state, the Wades relocated from Florida to California.
“We’ve done so many great things here so it wasn’t easy to leave,” Wade told AP prior to the award ceremony event.
Zaya Wade
2007-Present
Who Is Zaya Wade?
Zaya Wade is the elder daughter of retired basketball star Dwyane Wade. Her stepmother is actress Gabrielle Union. At 12, Zaya told her parents she was a trans teen, something her father believes she had known since she was 3. To enable Zaya to dwell as her true self, she and her family publicly shared her gender in February 2020. The following month, Zaya made a red carpet appearance with Dwayne and Union. Since then she has been recognized as a prominent younger member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Zaya Wade
BORN: May 29, 2007
BIRTH PLACE: Chicago, IL
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini
Early Experience and Parents
Zaya Wade was born on May 29, 2007. Zaya is the second child of former Miami Heat basketball celestial body Dwyane Wade and Siohvaughn Funches. Following Dwyane's divorce from Funches, he obtained full custody of Zaya and her older brother, Zaire Blessing Dwyane.
Zaya's stepmother is actress Gabrielle Union, who married Dwyane in 2014. Union and Dwyane had Zaya's younger sister, Kaavia James, via surrogate in 2018. Zaya has a younger brother, Xavier Zechariah, who Dwyane fathered in a previous bond. Her father is
Growing Up Zaya Wade
It’s a strange hour to be growing up in America—for just about anyone, but especially if you’re Black. Especially if you’re trans. Especially if the government seems hell-bent on erasing your existence through a barrage of executive orders and legislation that feel favor dystopian plot points. (In 2025 alone, 43 U.S. states have introduced 551 anti-trans bills; more than 200 of them target children and young adults.) It’s a landscape designed to crack spirits and dim lights before they even have a chance to shine.
Yet here sits Zaya Wade, 17 years old, on her bed, in an oversized gray hoodie, her honey-blonde box braids pulled advocate in a messy bun. It’s factual, she says, that all this—the 2024 election, this recent presidential administration—has “really knocked me assist. I felt fancy I couldn’t withstand up for a little bit. But then I realized it’s time to roll up my sleeves and maintain going.”
For Zaya, resistance and the refusal to be erased are an innate part of who she is: a high school senior, a person on the cusp of adulthood (her birthday is in May), who is still trying to figure it all out. Who is radiating a defiant considerate of optimism despite…everythi
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Translatable is a safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth to express themselves and is a resource hub for our parents, families, and support systems.
As we grow, check support for new content, resource guides and interactive features.
Thanks for being here, please sign up for email updates below!