NBA legend Dwyane Wade's trans daughter celebrates major achievement
Anish Vij
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@dwyanewade
Dwyane Wade and his daughter Zaya are celebrating another major achievement.
Model and LGBTQ+ advocate Zaya came out as transgender in 2020, and her father has been with her every step of the way.
Amongst many achievements, the 15-year-old has modelled for for Tiffany & Co.'s new all-gender bracelets, along with making her runway debut for Miu Miu at Paris Fashion Week in March.
"She's the strong one in this family. She's a hero," the proud dad said back in June 2021 of his daughter.
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"It's our family's job to make sure that we listen to her. We listen to the doctors.
"We ask questions and we formulate our own ideas of how Zaya should be and should be raised in this world and we don't allow others to do that for us."
And now, the Miami Heat legend has even more reason to be happy for his daughter, as Zaya has landed her first magazine cover for DAZED's March 2023 issue.
The model donned the front cover and was dressed head-to-toe in Miu Miu.
Gushing about the moment on socials, Dwyane got his daughter to sign a copy of the magazine, which read: "To Dad: I love you," followed by the basketball star's caption: "First signed copy!"
"They are such a giant support system and have always been there for me," Zaya said of her family in last month's issue.
"No matter what happens, I feel strongest when I'm with them. It started out as, 'Oh, my parents are super fashionable, and I want to dress up and be as fashionable as them'.
"But, as time has passed and I've become more integrated into the fashion world, it's become a really important part of expressing myself and my identity.
"Whether I'm wearing a dress for winter formal or wearing a suit for a shoot, it's just a way to level up my iconic-ness, I feel."
Back in 2021, Zaya hosted a Q&A for teen readers of Michelle Obama's Becoming, when she asked Obama what her advice would be for teens 'who want to be themselves and thrive like you have and currently are'.
"Well, like you have and currently are," Obama replied. "I am just so proud of you, you know, being just an amazing role model and embracing your truth."
"We all think that we thrive with people who are just like us, but I think getting a different perspective from someone else who isn't like you really helps," Zaya added.
"That definitely helped me in becoming me and defining my truth."