Retired NBA star Dwyane Wade filed court papers Thursday, petitioning to legally change his transgender daughter’s name.
According to reports, Dwyane is asking the court to allow his 15-year old to change her name from Zion Malachi Airamis Wade to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade.
The Los Angeles Superior Court petition states that Dwyane has full authority to make these decisions for his child. It also states that he notified his ex-wife and Zaya’s mother Siohvaughn Funches.
In 2020, Dwyane shared on the Ellen Show that his daughter started using she/her pronouns.
At the age of 12, Dwyane’s child asked the family if they could call her Zaya instead of Zion.
“We’re just trying to figure out as much information as we can to make sure that we give our child the best opportunity to be her best self,” Dwyane told Ellen Degeneres.
Dwyane also expressed that he feared for his daughter’s safety.
“As blessed as it is for my daughter to have parents who can support her, I’m still afraid every moment she leaves the house,” Dwyane told CNN.
As for Zaya, she said she knows she’s transgender and is aware that transphobia exists.
“There are genuinely people out there who think that you’re a kid, this is a phase, or you don’t actually know what you’re talking about,” she said in an interview with Logo.
“I know that I’m trans, and it’s not like one day I just went, ‘I want to try out being trans.’ No. So just suck it up. We are who we are.”
