Retired NBA star Dwyane Wade said in an interview on Wednesday that his family left Florida over the state’s approach to transgender issues.
Wade, who played for the Miami Heat for 14 years, explained his decision to basketball reporter Rachel Nichols, who asked Wade for his thoughts on legislation in Florida that prohibits child sex changes.
Wade has a transgender child, Zaya, who has identified as a girl since the age of 12. (RELATED: Dwyane Wade Fires Back At Ex’s Allegations Of Exploiting Their Trans Kid)
Dwyane Wade explains why he and his family moved out of Florida
“My family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And so that’s one of the reasons why I don’t live there.” pic.twitter.com/STD2w643ZD
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 27, 2023
“That’s another reason why I don’t live in that state,” Wade told Nichols. “A lot of people don’t know that. I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions.”
“I mean, obviously, the tax [situation] is great. Having Wade County is great,” he added, referring to the Miami-Dade County commissioners’ June 2010 vote to change the county’s name to “Miami-Wade” for a week later that summer in a bid to convince the star to remain with the Miami Heat. “But my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And so that’s one of the reasons why I don’t live there,” Wade added.
Wade first announced in 2020 that his child, a biological boy named Zion Malachi Airamis Wade, identifies as transgender. In August 2022, Wade filed paperwork to change the 15-year-old’s name name to Zaya.