Zaya Wade, 12, Is All Smiles While Singing During A Performance After Coming Out As Transgender

Zaya Wade is a natural on stage! Dwyane Wade shared a new video of his daughter singing and dancing on March 1, and gushed over the 'joy' she brought the entire family. Gabrielle Union and their daughter Kaavia were present for Zaya's big night!

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March 2, 2020 12:08PM EST
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Zaya Wade made her family proud when she put on a beautiful performance on Sunday! The 12-year-old daughter of NBA legend, Dwyane Wade looked happier than ever while singing and dancing in a video her dad shared to Instagram.

“J.O.Y. ~ A Feeling Of Great Pleasure And Happiness! That’s What Watching Zaya Sing And Dance Last Night Felt Like For Our Family ❤️,” Dwyane captioned his video post. He also shared a closeup photo of a smiling Zaya holding two bouquets of flowers after her performance.

“Enough Said 😍,” the proud dad captioned the post. His wife, Gabrielle Union and his eldest son, Zaire both commented with heart emojis. The L.A.’s Finest actress — who was in attendance, along with the couple’s 1-year-old daughter Kaavia James — also shared clips from Zaya’s performance on her Instagram Stories. The proud parents also posted identical family photos with Zaya captioned, “Village.”

(Video credit: Dwyane Wade/Instagram) 

The event marks Zaya’s first public appearance (that we’ve seen) following Dwyane’s announcement that his 12-year-old is transgender. He introduced Zaya, born Zion, to the world during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in early February. Dwyane said that Zaya approached him and Gabrielle and said she wants to be addressed using female pronouns. Zaya later gave her father permission to speak out about her story as he and Gabrielle continue to educate themselves while fully supporting her.

Dwyane also opens up about his family in his new ESPN documentary Life Unexpected, in which Zaya expresses the importance of living your truth.

“What’s the point in being on this earth if you’re going to be someone you’re not. It’s like you’re not living as yourself,” she says to her father during a golfing outing. “I feel like it’s very worth it when you reach that point within yourself.”
Dwyane replies, “Like feeling free, feeling like you, like you don’t have to hide.”
Zaya continues, “Yeah, you can look in the mirror and say hi to yourself, like nice to meet you instead of like, ‘I don’t really know who I am.’ It’s like a full identity crisis.”