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Home · Love & Sex

Fatherhood Goals! Dwyane Wade Supports His Son Zion Despite What Critics Say

"I had to look myself in the mirror and say, 'What if your son comes home and tells you he's gay?'"
Dwyane Wade Speaks On Accepting His Son Zion’s Sexuality
By Jasmine Grant · Updated December 6, 2020

Dwyane Wade is no stranger to sharing family moments with his wife and children via social media. Like any other great parent, he wants his children to thrive and feel loved for exactly who they are.

During a recent interview with Showtime’s All the Smoke podcast, the retired basketball player opened up about how he came to accept his 12-year-old son Zion’s sexuality.

“I had to look myself in the mirror when my son at the time was 3 years old. And me and my wife are having conversations about [noticing] he wasn’t on the boy vibe that Zaire was on,” he said.

Article continues after video.

In choosing to support his son, Wade says he had to unlearn the patterns and prejudices he absorbed throughout his own life. “I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘What if your son come home and tell you he’s gay? What are you going to do? How are you going to be? How are you going to act?’”

Wade credits his growth as a parent to his wife, actress Gabrielle Union. “She led me. She gave me some different lenses to look through,” Wade said. “It changed my whole perspective; I grew up with the same perspective as a lot [who] were ‘ignorant.’ And you meet people along the way that help you take those glasses off and put on some different ones — look through life through a different lens — and so that’s what my wife has been able to do.”

Ultimately, Wade is committed to not only loving his youngest son unconditionally but speaking out against homophobic comments aimed against him. The 37-year-old found himself having to set the record straight after trolls commented on Zion being photographed in a crop top and long nails.

View this post on Instagram

Grateful ❤❤❤ Happy Thanksgiving good people. To all the friends and family that have my back and all the friends and family I've never met who show love and support when everyone is looking and when no one is looking…All praise, gratitude and thankfulness

A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Nov 28, 2019 at 3:02pm PST

I’ve seen some post-thanksgiving hate on social about my family photo. Stupidity is apart of this world we live in—so i get it. But here’s the thing—I’ve been chosen to lead my family not y’all. So we will continue to be us and support each other with pride, love & a smile! ✌🏾

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) November 30, 2019

“When I respond to things socially, I’m not responding because you hurt my feelings or I even care enough about what you’re saying. As we say in the hood, it’s ‘ignant.’ I’m responding because I understand my platform. I understand that I’m speaking for a lot people that don’t have the voice that I have as a father. I’m speaking for my 12-year-old, because I haven’t allowed him to sit in front of a microphone.”

Watch Wade’s interview with All The Smoke below.

TOPICS:  black celebrity parents celebrity Dwyane Wade Gabrielle Union zion wade
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