Dwyane Wade files petition to legally change name and gender for trans daughter Zaya
Dwyane Wade has taken steps to legally change the name and gender of his trans daughter Zaya Wade. Over the last couple of years, the former basketball player has fostered a loving and affirming environment for his daughter – who publically came out as trans in 2020.
On 18 August, Wade continued to showcase his support for Zaya by filing a petition to update her name and gender. According to The Blast, the documents were submitted to a Los Angeles Court and requested that her name be legally changed to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade.
The filing also asked that she be listed as female on her documents moving forward to align with her gender identity. Alongside the request, the filing revealed that Wade’s ex-wife and Zaya’s mother, Siohvaughn Funches, was not required to give consent per their custody agreement.
However as a courtesy, the NBA star sent a notice of the petition to Zaya’s mother. Wade’s legal filings come a couple of months after he gave a heartfelt interview about Zaya’s coming-out journey. “I mean, I went years without telling my chef that I didn’t like cilantro in my burger – and that was hard as an adult,” he told CNN at the 2022 Time100 Summit event. “It took me years to have the confidence to say that.
