Dwyane Wade Talks About Supporting His Son's Sexuality
Dwyane Wade Opens Up About Supporting His Son's Sexuality: "Nothing Changes With My Love"
Dwyane Wade will never not be his son's biggest cheerleader. The former NBA player appeared on Showtime's All the Smoke podcast this week when he spoke to hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson about watching his 12-year-old son Zion, who identifies as queer, grow up and how being open-minded about his sexuality has changed him as a parent.
"I had to look myself in the mirror and say, 'What if your son come home and tell you he's gay," the 37-year-old said, recalling the moment he began noticing the differences between Zion and his oldest son, Zaire. "What are you going to do? How are you going to be? How are you going to act? It ain't about him. He knows who he is. It's about you. Who are you?'"
He continued, acknowledging how Zion's identity has encouraged him to look at the world through a different lens. "I've watched my son, from day one, become into who she now eventually has come into," he said. "And for me, it's all about . . . nothing changes with my love. Nothing changes with my responsibilities. So, the only thing I gotta do now is get smarter and educate myself more."
Dwyane's comments come just weeks after he and his wife, Gabrielle Union, were heavily criticized after Zion was seen wearing a crop top and fake nails in a family Thanksgiving photo that has since gone viral. He addressed the hate head-on in another viral Instagram post a few days later, and despite all the backlash, he's still not budging on his decision to support his children no matter what.
"Ultimately, you want your kids to be free and live their lives." he told the hosts. "I don't care what you want to do . . . whatever you want to do, it's my job to support you and make sure that you have all the tools you need to be as happy as you can be in this world while you're doing it, while you're growing into the person that you're growing into."
Listen to the full, hour-long episode of All the Smoke over on iTunes to hear more of Dwyane's comments.
