Zaya Wade is officially a teenager as she celebrates her 13th birthday. Father Dwyane Wade and stepmom Gabrielle Union are proud parents of the teen and they expressed their love with heartfelt, lengthy social media posts dedicated to Zaya. For months, the Wade family has been met with criticism because of their acceptance of Zaya transitioning from male to female at such a young age, but it hasn't deterred the family from being a supportive unit. Actor Hill Harper chimed in to wish Zaya a happy birthday, but in his message, he referred to Zaya as a boy and was quickly met with backlash.
"Happy Birthday young man!! Read 'Letters to a Young Brother'!!! Your mom wrote something in it!! You'll love it! Have a great day!!" Harper commented. It didn't take long for the public to let Harper know that Zaya Wade now identifies as a girl, and he was quick to respond. "I would like to apologize for my post. I am responsible for what gets posted and I made a horrible error. I misgendered my friend’s child and I am so sorry to Zaya and the entire Wade family. It was not my intention to misgender and misrepresent her in any way. I celebrate Zaya," Hill Harper tweeted. "As a family friend I feel so bad that I may have taken away from the celebration. Zaya’s courage and strength is something I celebrate. And there was absolutely no malicious intent to my post."
"I am human and I am learning and often trying to do too many things which leads to mistakes like this one. I am sorry," Harper continued. "I’m sorry to those my post offended, that was certainly not my intention." He went to reiterate his apology once again, adding that during these times, the last thing he wanted to do was to become a "negative distraction." Read through his tweets and Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union's birthday posts below.
Boosie Badazz Unapologetic Over Trans Remarks, Says Jay-Z Didn’t Try To Call Him
Boosie Badazz recently made waves over his comments about Zaya Wade, and while he won’t apologize, he does say that he doesn’t have “nothing against nobody.”
After 12-year-old Zaya Wade came out as transgender, it became the talk of social media. Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union openly supported Zaya’s transition, causing many parents and non-parents alike to weigh in with their opinion on the famous couple. Boosie Badazz made waves over his criticisms, so much so that it was rumored that Jay-Z attempted to lock down a conversation with him—a chat that Boosie reportedly turned down. However, during a recent conversation with VladTV, Boosie clarified that Jay never actually wanted to talk to him.
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Staff / Getty Images
“The people got it wrong,” he said. “The owner of my reality show, he know Jay. We started losing advertising, he like, ‘Imma call Jay. Jay can put you on the line with Dwyane Wade and y’all do some sh*t. We clear this sh*t up and go get the bag. Whoopty woo. Jay can make it happen.’ He the one who can make it happen. He from New York, my boy from New York. I was just like, no, bruh. No, I ain’t…I stand what I stand on. I don’t feel I said nothing wrong to apologize for.”
Boosie admitted that even his mother “got on [his] ass about the situation.” He added, “That’s where I got that line from, ‘Who am I to judge?’ ‘Cause she kept saying that. And I just made the song.” The rapper said his mother pointed out the things that he does that people may not like, but he figured that she was just trying to “get in [his] head to flip [him]” and he wasn’t having any part of it. “I ain’t apologizing.”
“I feel kids can’t make decisions like that at that age and I just believe in traditional values, that’s all,” he said matter-of-factly. “And people took it the wrong way but I wasn’t trying to harm nobody about it. I don’t have nothing against nobody or nothing like that.” Watch Boosie Badazz talk about his views on Zaya Wade below and check out what else he had to say about being banned from Planet Fitness over his comments.
Gabrielle Union Thinks It’s "Odd" To Receive Praise For Supporting Zaya Wade
Gabrielle Union believes all parents should support their children, so she finds it odd that she and Dwyane Wade have received recognition for encouraging Zaya Wade through her transition.
Ever since they shared that Zaya Wade was transitioning from male to female at 12-years-old, parents Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union have faced backlash. They’ve been criticized for supporting Zaya during this time, but the LGBTQIA+ community have stood by their side. Dwyane and Gabrielle have been applauded for how they’ve accepted Zaya, and during a recent chat with Ellen DeGeneres, the actress talked about how it’s strange for her to be praised for something she says parents should do, anyway.
Andrew Toth / Stringer / Getty Images
“To us, it’s a little odd to get any kind of recognition for doing what you’re supposed to do, which is love, and accept, and embrace your kids,” Gabrielle Union said. “So it’s odd to get recognition for that. Unfortunately, there are so many people who just don’t.” She added, “[There are] so many people who really truly feel like their kids are disposable. If they’re not perfect images of them, they’re not interested. And it’s heartbreaking. So we’re just doing what is natural to us, and loving her.”
Later, in another interview, Gabrielle gave advice to parents raising an LGBTQIA+ child. “Love your child, listen to your child, accept your child,” she answered. “Reject the notion that your children are disposable if they are not little mini versions of you and that creating more of you isn’t in every kind of way, isn’t the solution to keeping them safe or paving the way for a happy life.” Watch a clip of the actress dishing out advice to LGBTQIA+ parents below.
Boosie Badazz Misgenders Dwyane Wade’s Daughter Again
Boosie Badazz seems to be sticking to his guns, “correcting” an interviewer who asked him about Dwyane Wade’s transgender daughter.
When met with such a strong level of backlash, some people would give up their morals and simply abide by the status quo. Boosie Badazz is not most people. He recently earned a ton of criticism after misgendering Dwyane Wade’s 12-year-old transgender daughter, ranting on video and urging D-Wade to reconsider supporting his child. The comments were totally unnecessary but it does not appear as though the Baton Rouge icon is going to apologize anytime soon. During a sit-down with Baller Alert, the rapper was asked about the situation and he went out of his way to misgender Zaya Wade again.
“You received backlash for your statements about Dwyane Wade’s daughter,” started the interviewer before Boosie cut her off, referring to Zaya as Wade’s “son.” He then attempted to explain why he said what he said.
“That’s just how I felt. People gotta understand that’s how I feel,” said the rapper. “Even my momma got on my ass yesterday. My momma called me early in the morning and got on my ass, talking about, ‘Stay off social media! That’s they family! You stay out people’s business.'”
Following the backlash felt by his comments about the Wade family, Boosie claims that he was banned from a Planet Fitness location, calling out the manager of the gym and admitting that he should have played it cool. “I feel like they’re ganging up on me now. I should’ve shut my ass up. Everything happens for a reason. A lot of people feel what I said, completely. I got a lot of bad backlash, but I got a lot of people who feel the same way.”
Boosie personally does not know Dwyane Wade and he doesn’t think that he’ll ever get in contact with the basketball legend after all of this. Watch below at the 1:50 mark.
Grimes Talks Pregnancy, Will Allow Child To Choose Their Gender
Grimes revealed in a YouTube Livestream that she wouldn’t share the gender of her baby because it may change in the future.
As she anticipates the birth of her first child with tech giant boyfriend Elon Musk, Grimes is opening up about her baby. The singer-songwriter recently kicked up dust after she refused to share her baby’s gender with fans and said that she planned on allowing her child to choose their identity when they were ready.
Frazer Harrison / Staff / Getty Images
Grimes hosted a YouTube Live session recently and said that she’s already picked out a name. “I don’t want to say what it is because everyone I’ve told it hates it, and everyone’s gonna make fun of it,” said Grimes, according to PEOPLE. “But it is, in fact, a genius name and people just don’t appreciate it yet because it’s too avant-garde.”
Elsewhere during her Live, Grimes stated, “I don’t want to say the gender of the baby … because I feel like their privacy should be protected. I don’t think they can consent to being famous or being in public. And I don’t want to gender them in case that’s not how they feel in their life. I don’t know, I just feel like it doesn’t need to be known.”
Still, fans on Twitter were curious as to whether she was having a “girl or a boy.” In a since-deleted tweet Grimes answered, “They may decide their fate and identity.” As you may have previously read, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union have been under social media fire after revealing that their 12-year-old Zion would now be known as their daughter Zaya.
50 Cent Jokes About Dwyane Wade’s Transgender Daughter With R. Kelly Meme
50 Cent takes things a step too far, joking about Dwyane Wade’s 12-year-old transgender daughter Zaya Wade with an R. Kelly meme on Instagram.
There are certain things that one should just not joke about and, after seeing the latest post on 50 Cent‘s Instagram page about Dwyane Wade’s daughter Zaya and R. Kelly, you’ll likely agree that the rapper crossed a line here.
50 Cent is well-known to be a prominent social media troll, coming after his rivals online and making his followers laugh with each new post. While this will surely elicit laughter from a select bunch, some people are feeling as though the Power executive should not have stooped to this level. In the midst of the growing media coverage surrounding Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, and their 12-year-old transgender daughter Zaya, 50 Cent shared a meme that has the basketball legend sitting next to disgraced singer R. Kelly, who is currently awaiting multiple trials for allegedly sexually abusing dozens of little girls. The caption is where things go left.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
“Heard you had a daughter now,” says R. Kelly in a text bubble above his head. “U touch her I’ll kill ya,” responds Wade. While this can be considered humorous, it’s definitely pretty risky for 50 Cent to continuously post provocative material. Clearly, he’s unafraid of “cancel culture,” which has caught up to so many celebrities in this day and age.
What do you think of this?
Cardi B Defends Dwyane Wade’s Trans Daughter Zaya
Cardi B hopped on Instagram live to lend her support for Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union's transgendered daughter, Zaya, and shut down the transphobic opinions expressed by other public figures since Zaya came out.
Cardi B explained why people should keep their opinions to themselves about Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union's trans daughter, Zaya, on Instagram live, after various celebrities spoke on the subject since Zaya came out as trans earlier this month. A few weeks ago, Dwyane and Gabrielle revealed to the world that their 12-year-old child identifies as a girl, and would thus forth go by Zaya and be referred to with female pronouns. The proud parents have been nothing but supportive of their daughter, and various celebrities have reached out to express their support as well. However, others were much more hateful. Boosie Badazz went on a transphobic rant (which eventually got him kicked out of Planet Fitness) about Zaya, insisting that Dwyane and his family have "gone too f*cking far."Young Thug was also insensitive toward the 12-year-old, misgendering her just as Boosie did and claiming that "God don't make mistakes." Boosie and Thug received plenty of backlash for their comments, and now, Cardi has taken it upon herself to express how she feels about the whole situation. The rapper began explaining her stance by reminding everyone that Zaya is a child, and that we should all be more sensitive about how we speak about her.
“A lot of people have been giving opinions about this little kid wanting to transition and everything," Cardi said. "And I feel like a lot of people are forgetting that this is a 12-year-old kid, that before you say your opinions and everything, let’s not forget that this is a kid. Let’s not forget that this kid could be very, very sensitive." She went on to explain how nobody is "too young" to know who they are. "People are saying that this kid is too young to transition but it’s like…if you were born thinking that you are a girl in a boy’s body, how old do you have to be to keep knowing that that’s who you are? That’s who you are, that’s your identity. If that’s who you feel that you are, what is the age limit for you to know that that’s what you want to be?"
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Cardi then refers to a video she watched that gave her some perspective on trans issues. “I've seen a long, 18-minute video on Youtube—way before this Zaya situation—about this 5-year-old little girl," she explains. "At 5 years old, she transitioned to be a girl and she knew that that’s what she wanted to be because…she knew that! She likes to wear dresses, she likes to play with Barbies. If you’re born like that you’re forever going to be like that. Whether the age that you pick it to be, it’s your choice."
She also relates Zaya's struggles growing up trans to her struggles growing up poor, indicating that children should be able to find their happiness now if they have the resources instead of waiting until they're older. “There’s certain things that I always wanted to do when I was younger, right?" she says. "And I’ve started to do [them] now, now that I have money. I be like, ‘Wow, I wish I would’ve been learned how to do this. I wish I would’ve been knowing this and that.’ I would’ve been happy. What’s the point of you being older, and then transitioning, and then being like, ‘Damn, I should’ve been doing this. I could have found my happiness.’ Let people find their happiness, especially kids. Let them feel comfortable doing what they want to be."
Boosie Badazz Banned From Planet Fitness For Dwyane Wade Daughter Comments
Boosie Badazz went on a transphobic rant against Dwyane Wade and his 12-year-old daughter, Zaya, resulting in him being banned from a Planet Fitness location.
We all know that Boosie Badazz, formerly known as Lil Boosie, is stuck in his old school ways but when he ranted about Dwyane Wade’s decision to support his 12-year-old transgender daughter Zaya, he definitely crossed a line. The Baton Rouge rap icon recorded a video of himself speaking about Wade’s appearance on Ellen where he out explained his decision to support his daughter, who was born Zion Wade. Boosie Badazz ended up misgendering the little girl, earning major backlash on social media as a result. Young Thugfound himself in a similar position. Because of his comments, Boosie was subsequently banned from a Planet Fitness location, which caused him to spew further homophobic slurs.
“MANAGER WHO WAS GAY REFUSED TO LET ME N PLANET FITNESS BECAUSE OF MY PAST ACTIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT GENDER,” wrote Boosie on Instagram, saying in the video that the man was also upset that he referred to one of their employees as a “f****t” He went on to post the address of the location in question, calling for a boycott of their services and claiming that they have roaches. “THEY HAVE ROACHES , N THEY SHOWER WATER DONT GET HOT,” he said.
Boosie Badazz has gotten caught in hot water over his previous comments about gender and sexuality. His rant about Zaya Wade is simply the most recent instance of it.
Dwyane Wade: Zaya’s Gender Identity Was Tough To Talk About
In a new interview with Good Morning America, Dwayne Wade recounts how he struggled, at first, to open up about his daughter Zaya's transition.
Dwyane Wade and his daughter Zaya have been making headlines over the last week due to the revelation that Zaya is trans and identifies as a female. At 12 years old, Zaya has been able to recognize her gender identity and has been making strides to educate her parents on how she feels. Wade has taken this all in stride and has been as supportive as one could imagine.
Recently, Wade sat down with Robin Roberts Good Morning America where he spoke on his brand new documentary. D.Wade: Life Unexpected takes a look at the basketball player’s hectic life. Zaya is a major part of the documentary and as Wade described, he felt a little uneasy about talking about her transition, at first.
“I struggled on how much I wanted to talk about it in the doc,” Wade said. “I actually didn’t talk about it a lot, but I knew if I put it in the doc at all, it would be a big conversation…We struggled with what people would say about a 12-year-old making a decision about her life. But we also know our child.”
Eventually, Wade came around on the idea of opening up because he knew it would help people out there. He figured that if people were going through something similar, they would be able to relate to him and his family’s story.
“We’ve been through so many different things that other people and other families go through and they thank us for speaking out on it,” Wade said. “That’s what we’re trying to do. We know there are other families out there dealing with their kid finding themselves and learning who they are.”
Wade says Zaya was very self-aware of herself early on and new that she was different from everyone else. The former basketball star says Zaya would talk things out with her parents often which eventually led to her discovery. Thanks to the power of research, Zaya was able to learn about herself and it eventually made it a lot easier to talk with her parents.
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
“Zaya, early on, knew two things: She knew straight and she knew gay,” Wade went on to say. “But Zaya started doing more research. She is the one who sat down with us, as a family, and said, ‘Hey, I don’t think I’m gay.’ She went down a list and said, ‘This is how I identify myself. This is my gender identity. I identify myself as a young lady. I identify as straight trans because I like boys.'”
Admittedly, Wade says he needed to check himself once Zaya came out as he needed to fully understand what she was going through. Throughout his career, Wade has used words in the locker room that would be regarded as offensive in today's climate. Being aware of that, Wade says he knew he had to change his behaviors in order to become a better father. Needless to say, Wade has come a long way over the years and will do absolutely anything to make sure his child feels loved.
Van Jones Applauds Dwyane Wade’s Support Of Daughter Zaya
Van Jones comments on Dwyane Wade's support of daughter Zaya.
Last week, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union were a focal point following their public revelation and support of their transgender preteen Zaya.
"Meet Zaya," Union penned in a tweet that accompanied a clip of the 12-year-old having an insightful conversation with her father. "She's compassionate, loving, whip smart and we are so proud of her. It’s Ok to listen to, love & respect your children exactly as they are. Love and light good people."
In a recent chat with TMZ, political commentator and pundit Van Jones offered a reflection on the significance of Wade's public support of his daughter, citing the move as a good example for parents faced with similar circumstances.
"It's powerful. It's important," Jones said. "When you have somebody of his stature saying 'love is love, my kid is my kid,' it gives other parents the permission structure to do the same thing. That's how you stop the suicides, and stop the self-hatred, and stop the bullying when you do what he did."
Back in June, Dwayne Wade expressed the need to support one's children unconditionally after coming under fire for attending a Pride Month parade with his daughter.
“I’m doing what every parent has to do. Once you bring kids into this world, you become unselfish," He told Variety. "It’s my job to be their role model, to be their voice in my kids’ lives, to let them know you can conquer the world. So go and be your amazing self, and we’re going to sit back and just love you.”
