Dwyane Wade files to legally change name and gender of trans daughter Zaya
NBA champion Dwyane Wade has said that he fears for his daughter’s safety every time she leaves the house because of anti-trans hate. (AFP via Getty/ Chris Delmas)
Former NBA star Dwyane Wade has filed the paperwork to officially update his trans daughter Zaya’s legal name and gender.
Wade filed the paperwork on behalf of his daughter, who is 15, as she is unable to do so as a minor.
According to The Blast, the documents were filed in a Los Angeles County Court, requesting that her name formally be changed to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade, and that her legal gender be updated to female.
Zaya’s mother and Wade’s ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches’s consent was not required, however Wade noted in the paperwork: “As a courtesy, Ms Funches-Wade has received notice of this petition.”
The case will be reviewed by a judge before the official change is made.
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Wade and Funches had two children together, Zaya and Zaire. Wade also had eight-year-old Xavier with Aja Metoyer, and three-year-old daughter Kaavia with now-wife Gabrielle Union.
Zaya Wade came out as trans in 2020, and has been met with nothing but love and support from her family, which includes her stepmother Union.
But earlier this year, Dwyane Wade revealed that because of the level of anti-trans hate in the US, he fears for his daughter’s safety every time she leaves the house.
“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,” he told CNN’s Poppy Harlow during the TIME100 Summit.
“And not just because of gun violence, but because of the way people perceive her in this world.”
But both Union and Wade trust and support Zaya to know herself, they said during a heartfelt interview on the Met Gala red carpet earlier this year.
“Being a father… is to make sure that you sit back and see what it is in life that they want to do and try to go there with them, and try to help them, mould them into who it is they want to be,” said Wade.
Union added: “And we believe them when they tell us who they are!”
