According to a confirmed report from TheBalst, NBA star Dwyane Wade has filed a court petition to legally change the name and gender of his transgender daughter, Zaya Wade.
According to documents obtained from the L.A. County Court, Wade is asking a judge to officially change his child’s name from Zion Malachi Airamis Wade to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade. Zaya is a transgender, however, being that she is under 18 years of age, her father has to be the one to officially request the change in court.
The petition mentions Zaya’s mother, Siohvaughn Funches, but says that Dwyane Wade has full authority to make the decision. “Pursuant to the terms of the Final Custody Judgment, (Wade) has full authority to make decisions on behalf of the petitioning minor, and he is not required to receive consent from Ms. Funches-Wade. As a courtesy, Ms. Funches-Wade has received notice of this petition,” the document reads.
In the filing, Wade asks that the court legally issues a decree recognizing that the minors’ gender is changed to “female. It also specifically cites the reason for the change as “to conform with gender identity.”
The multi-millionaire athlete admits he is shocked by his daughter’s confidence in this area, saying, “I went years without telling my chef that I don’t like cilantro on my burger — as an adult, it took me years to have the confidence to say that…My daughter, at 8 years old, had the confidence to say, ‘This is who I am. This is who I want to be.’”
The petition is now pending with the court.
