Dwyane Wade speaks on ‘unconditional love’ in tribute to daughter Zaya
Wade posted a supportive Instagram message to his daughter, Zaya, who came out as transgender back in February.
Dwyane Wade is publicly showing his daughter Zaya “unconditional love.”
On Sunday, Wade posted two images of his daughter, who came out as transgender back in February.
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The basketball star captioned the post saying:
“Unconditional love, simply put, is love without strings attached,” he wrote. “It’s love you offer freely. You don’t base it on what someone does for you in return. You simply love them and want nothing more than their happiness. This type of love, sometimes called compassionate or agape love??? @zayawade.
Zaya’s coming out experience wasn’t seamless. Her stepmother, Gabrielle Union, recently did an interview and said the teenager felt outed on social media after Union posted a family pic.
As reported by theGrio, on a recent episode of Taraji P. Henson‘s new Facebook Watch series, Peace of Mind With Taraji, Union opened up about 13-year-old Zaya’s journey to discovering her identity on Monday. Union said the Instagram post unwittingly made the teen feel targeted online, per Us.
Read More: Gabrielle Union says she feels ‘exposed’ in front of Dwyane Wade due to PTSD
“The comments were guessing as to who Zaya was and why,” said Union about the May 2017 photo she shared on Zaya’s 10th birthday. Union said blogs and fans “dissected” the pic and it made Zaya feel “outed.”
“Zaya’s peace is non-negotiable,” said the actress. “As Zaya gathered more language, she was able to tell us about her identity. She was able to tell us about her sexuality. She was able to tell us, ‘I’m trans.’ And she says, ‘I’ve come out a few times.’”
Zaya told her that sharing the Instagram photo made her feel as though she was outed.
“She said, ‘Well, I came out to my teacher in the third grade and then [again] when you guys posted that picture of me in Chicago at my birthday party,’” Union explained last week.
Union and Wade are parents to Zaya and Zaire,18, whose mother is Siobvaughn Funches, Wade’s first wife. The couple’s other daughter, Kaavia, is now two and Wade has a 7-year-old son, Xavier, with former partner, reality show star Aja Metoyer.
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