Dwyane Wade says he left Florida because of anti-LGBTQ sentiment
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Dwyane Wade, a key member of three of the Miami Heat’s NBA championship teams and the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, no longer lives in Florida, he said, in part because of the state’s political climate. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Wade, who has a 15-year-old transgender daughter, was asked in an interview with Rachel Nichols on Showtime’s “Headliners” about politicians who have rooted for him while favoring anti-LGBTQ policies.
“That’s another reason why I don’t live in that state,” Wade, whose daughter Zaya came out as transgender in 2020, said (via People). “A lot of people don’t know that. I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions.
“I mean, obviously, the tax situation is great. Having Wade County [Miami-Dade County was briefly renamed in his honor in 2010] is great. But my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And so that’s one of the reasons why I don’t live there.”
Drafted by the Heat in 2003, Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, sold their Miami Beach home in 2019 and moved to Los Angeles. Wade, who is also the father of 4-year-old daughter Kaavia, 8-year-old son Xavier Zechariah and 20-year-old son, Zaire, retired from the NBA in 2019. Since Zaya came out, Wade and Union, Zaya’s stepmother, have supported her publicly.
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Under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Florida has introduced a flurry of legislation targeting LGBTQ rights, as GOP lawmakers nationwide are introducing and passing a historic number of such bills, according to a recent Washington Post analysis. Such legislation seeks to exclude transgender people from prisons, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers that align with their gender identities. Within the context of schools, the legislation applies to athletic teams, locker rooms and bathrooms that do not match students’ sex as assigned at birth.
Wade and Union addressed the “rough” intersection of rights for Black and LGBTQ people in February, the day after Zaya legally changed her name and gender assignment.
“Zaya, as your father, all I’ve wanted to do is get it right,” Wade said as he and Union accepted the President’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards. “I’ve sat back and watched how gracefully you’ve taken on the public scrutiny and even though it’s not easy, I watched you walk out of that house every morning as yourself. I admire how you’ve handled ignorance in our world. I admire that you face it every day. To say that your village is proud of you is an understatement.”
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Source: The Washington Post
