It’s important to let people not only come into who they are on their own, but also allow them to come out on their own, and Gabrielle Union’s story about her step daughter Zaya reflects that.
Gabrielle Union and her husband, Dwyane Wade have been very open about their daughter Zaya Wade’s gender identity. On the premiere episode of Taraji P. Henson‘s new Facebook Watch series, ‘Peace of Mind With Taraji,’ Union opened up about her stepdaughter, Zaya’s, journey to discovering her identity. She said an Instagram photo became the source of slight confusion for the teen.
“The comments were guessing as to who Zaya was and why,” said Union about a photo she posted of Zaya in May 2017 for her 10th birthday. Union said black blogs specifically and fans “dissected” the image of the child and it made young Zaya feel “outed.”
“Zaya’s peace is non-negotiable,” said the actress. “As Zaya gathered more language, she was able to tell us about her identity. She was able to tell us about her sexuality. She was able to tell us, ‘I’m trans.’ And she says, ‘I’ve come out a few times.’”
But Union added that Zaya knew who she was from a young age.
“She said, ‘Well, I came out to my teacher in the third grade and then [again] when you guys posted that picture of me in Chicago at my birthday party,’” in reference to the same IG image.
Take a look at the episode below. Thoughts?
