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Dwyane Wade’s unconditional love for his daughter Zaya Wade has ruffled the feathers of a few celebrities. When his daughter came out as transgender, he stood with her and supported her along the way. Although Wade has received backlash for advocating and protecting his daughter, he is unshaken by the negativity that his celebrity peers are throwing his way.

In an appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, Wade talks about the comments that Boosie and J-Boogie have shared in the media about the way he is parenting Zaya.

“So, Boosie, all the people who got something to say, J-Boogie (J-Boog of 2000s R&B group B2K) who just came out recently … All the people who got something to say about my kids, I thank you because you’re allowing the conversation to keep going forward because you what? You might not have the answer today, I don’t have all the answers, but we’re growing from all these conversations,” Wade said. “So I thank everybody for even hating and starting these conversations because those conversations are starting other conversations that we need to have. And that’s happening out there.”

His perspective is a smart and unique one. Since people are having a hard time understanding his openness to his daughter’s transition, he welcomes the open dialogue so that people can learn more about the transgender community and why they need to be protected.

“At the end of the day, what I’m dealing with people, I’m dealing with life and death. It’s people in the transgender community that are getting killed. It’s kids that are murdering theirselves, that are hanging themselves, they’re killing themselves because something as simple as acceptance,” he continued.

When parents decide to have children, the goal is to give them what they need in life to become who they were created to be. Children need love and guidance. It is the parent’s job to give them the tools to navigate life so that they can operate as their authentic self. For the people who can’t understand why Wade would be so open to his daughter’s transition, consider that not being open to it can hinder Zaya’s perception of love, acceptance, and sense of self. Lots of kids are condemned by their parents when all they really want is to be loved and supported.

“Something as simple as unconditional love is not being given to these kids, and I’ll be Goddamned if my child gon’ be that person because of something as simple as me supporting who you are,” Wade said.

My personal opinion is that Boosie, a man with 8 children by 6 different women, should focus on parenting his own home, instead of Wade’s. If everyone paid closer attention to their own yards, we wouldn’t be concerned about the grass of our neighbors. Kudos to Dwyane Wade for supporting his daughter and being a positive example of how to parent a trans kid.

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Dwyane Wade Says The Hate Against His Daughter Sparks A Larger Conversation Around Transphobia  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com