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Former Miami Heat basketball player Dwyane Wade’s daughter Zaya Wade recently shared a picture with her new boyfriend on Instagram, announcing to the world that she is now in a relationship. The 14-year-old is the daughter of the former NBA champion and his first wife, Siohvaughn Funches. Netizens are familiar with the celebrity child through her stepmother Gabrielle Union as well.
Zaya Wade took to her Instagram profile sharing pictures of her Easter weekend spent with her family. She included a picture of herself with her father and aunt, Tragil Wade. The unexpected appearance was made by her boyfriend, Huaze Leo. The young couple was seen hugging and taking a selfie together in the pictures Zaya posted.
Huaze Leo took to his own Instagram profile as well, sharing adorable pictures of them together. He captioned the social media post:
The comment section under Zaya's Instagram post was limited. However, Huaze’s comment section was filled with love and support. Followers flooded it with heart emojis. A few comments read:
Gabrielle Union speaks up about raising her transgender daughter, Zaya Wade
Zaya Wade’s parents divorced in 2007 and her father went on to marry actress Gabrielle Union in 2014. Zaya has one older sibling Zaire and two younger siblings, Xavier and Kaavia.
According to NBA Family Fandom, Zaya came out as a transgender woman when she was 11 years old in 2019. Zaya was legally born as Zion Malachi Airamis Wade and went on to get her name changed.
Since their daughter came out, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade have fiercely advocated for LGBTQ+ rights. In an interview with Buzzfeed, Union revealed that she loved her daughter in every phase of her life and did not understand why she had to show support for her new identity in the beginning. She said:
“It’s important for us to live and love out loud. We didn’t exactly understand why [supporting Zaya’s trans identity] was a thing because it’s like, we love all our kids out loud. But it is a thing and a lot of people do need an example. [People] do need that [kind of] representation.”
The 49-year-old actress also elaborated on how parents must provide endless support when their child opens up about their identity. The actress stressed the importance of allowing her children to explore their identities. She said:
“As our children show up, it is our job to believe them when they tell us who they are and not impose our dreams, hopes, fears, and desires on them. It’s our job to be loving, compassionate, protective guides for our children, but their lives are their lives and we have to respect that ... We do not believe in any kind of shaming for existing. That is bizarre, cruel, harmful.”
Zaya has a massive following on Instagram of 519K followers. Though she has not included many pictures of her personal life, her profile is filled with several fashion portraits. She has also included a link to an i-D fashion spread in her profile’s bio.
