Today, Dwyane Wade responded to his ex-wife’s objection to his petition to allow their daughter Zaya to legally change her name and gender.
In her court filing, Siohvaughn Funches-Wade asked that the 15-year-old Zaya – born Zion Malachi Airamis Wade – wait until “the age of majority” to make changes to her name and gender identity.
“Given [Dwyane’s] high-profile status as a professional athlete, our children’s lives have been highly publicized,” Funches-Wade stated in the document. “[Dwyane] has appeared on national television shows and in media reports regarding our child’s name and gender change. I am concerned that our child is being commercialized at a young age and also of the uncontrollable consequences of media exposure i.e. cyberbullying, statements and/or pictures taken out of context of our child, and unwanted spotlight focused on our child.”
The three-time NBA champion took to social media to speak on the allegations listed in Fuches-Wade’s objection. In a lengthy statement, Wade said that he wasn’t “surprised by Siohvaughn’s attempt to fight Zaya’s identity and her unwavering attempt to drag my name through the mud,” and expressed disappointment at these current series of events.
“Since this must be the new way of parenting, I guess I have to address these allegations here, which is a damn shame,” Wade wrote in a post via his Instagram account. “While I’m on a life-changing trip in our motherland, Africa, I’ve received a social media post about me forcing our 15 year old child to be someone she’s not and to do something against her will. These are serious and harmful allegations that have hurt our children.”
“..this is a kid who has maintained a 4.0 GPA in honors classes while navigating all this unsolicited and harmful attention and debates about her gender and sexuality from those who are committed to not listening to her, much less even knowing her,” he added.
Funches-Wade and Dwyane Wade were married from 2002 to 2010, are parents to both Zaire, who is 20, and Zaya. The former Miami Heat player filed the initial petition on August 22 of this year, asking for “recognition of minor’s change of gender and issuance of new birth certificate and change of name.”
A hearing for the case is set for December 12.
