NFL
By: Zachary Draves
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
Fannie Lou Hamer proclaimed that “nobody’s free until everybody’s free”.
Those sentiments were very much embodied in the speech given by former NBA star Dwayne Wade and his wife actress and activist Gabrielle Union-Wade at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday. They were accepting the President’s Award in recognition for their advocacy work on behalf of the black LGBTQ+ community and they took this moment to celebrate the visibility of their 15 year old transgender daughter Zaya.
(Courtesy: AARON J. THORNTON/GETTY IMAGES FOR BET)
Wade acknowledged her by saying “Zaya, as your father, all I’ve wanted to do is get it right. I’ve sat back and watched how gracefully you’ve taken on the public scrutiny and, even though it’s not easy, I’ve watched you walk out of that house every morning as yourself.”
He then spoke about how Zaya taught him about the importance of healthy nonverbal communication.
“You’ve taught me that communication with my mouth isn’t enough. I have to also communicate with my two ears and my two eyes,” he said.
Union-Wade took the time to talk about the need for a “new era of activism” at the intersections of racial justice and LGBTQ+ equality.
“A new era that demands our collective answer to one simple question: Will we fight for some or will we fight for all of our people?” Union said. “Even as we demand equality at the top of our lungs, we consistently fail to extend our advocacy to protect some of our most vulnerable among us.”
The full speech can be found here:
(Courtesy: Youtube)
Oftentimes issues around race, sexual orientation, and gender identity have been seen as distinct even though history has proven otherwise due to the legacies of prominent black LGBTQ+ figures such as Bayard Rustin, James Baldwin, Marsha P. Johnson, Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberry, and Raquel Willis.
Since Zaya came out publicly as transgender in 2019, both her father Wade and stepmother Union-Wade have been extremely supportive of her. Her visibility has enabled them to be on the frontlines of ensuring that LGBTQ+ communities, especially black transgender people, are treated with respect and dignity.
(Courtesy: Andrew Toth/Getty Images)
In this current political climate, LGBTQ+ communities have increasingly been on the receiving end of bullying, taunts, harassment, and violence both on the interpersonal and institutional level.
The incidents are too numerous to count.
The shooting at the gay bar Club Q in Colorado Springs in November, heightened level of threats on drag performers and clubs, and over 300 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have either been introduced or enacted into law in various states that seek to ban gender affirming care for trans youth, criminalize drag, or prohibit trans women and girls from competing in sports.
It is clear that LGBTQ+ people are under attack.
For black transgender people, they have to deal with the compounding effects of discrimination and violence along the lines of race and gender identity.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, around 38 transgender and non-conforming people were killed by acts of violence in 2022 alone. The majority of whom were black and brown transgender women.
For the Wades to be visible in their unapologetic and unconditional love of Zaya provides a beacon of light in what has been a very dark world for a vulnerable community.
“Making room for everyone is also about ensuring their daughter is not excluded from opportunities and actions, bullied or harassed,” says Victoria York, Deputy Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation’s leading black LGBTQ advocacy group. “Their modeling of affirmation and unconditional love is keeping Black families together & Black LGBTQ+/SGL kids alive at a time when some seek to divide us while emotionally torturing trans kids.”
It is also particularly meaningful for a black cisgender straight-identified man like Wade to be openly proud of his transgender daughter. Coming from the traditional hypermasculine world of sports and when sports have become a battleground for these rather bogus culture wars, it is profound for Wade to essentially redefine what it means to be a sportsman in the 21st century.
Even though his playing days are long past, he still maintains a high level of cache in the world of sports. Perhaps his example can help persuade others in the sports world and beyond to reexamine their preconceived notions of what gender and sexuality mean and create space in sports for all to enjoy the riches it provides and do so as their authentic selves.
(Courtesy: Getty Images)
“By inviting the sports and wider world into their family’s journey, the Wade’s have gifted an untold number of athletes and others in the sports ecosystem with the opportunity to learn what affirming and loving parenting looks like, what gender-affirming health care is for most teenagers in real-time, and provided connection to a kid we are all rooting for to be successful in whatever ventures in life she seeks,” says York. “Hopefully, when athletic leagues and high schools think about trans kids wanting to play sports with their friends of the same gender, they think of the Wades.”
Dwayne Wade is the type of father that every LGBTQ+ child deserves and his loving nature was exemplified in the closing words of his speech.
“Zaya, you’ve made me a better human just simply by being who you were born to be, a baby girl, Zaya Wade,” he said. “So baby thank you for showing the world what courage looks like.”
