Former NBA star Dwayne Wade is being accused by his wife of pressuring their child into gender transitioning. Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, Wade’s ex-wife, is claiming that Wade is trying to financially and socially capitalize on having a transgender child.
While making these allegations, Funches-Wade has filed a petition to object to the legal change of name of her and Wade’s 15-year-old son, Zaya.
“[Dwayne] may be pressuring our child to move forward with the name and gender change in order to capitalize on the financial opportunities that he has received from companies”
Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, according to court documents
Wade first spoke publicly about his son coming out as transgender back in 2020, when he appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Wade explained that his son has expressed a desire to identify as a girl and be referred to using she/her pronouns.
But Funches-Wade is arguing that their son coming out as transgender is due to the pressuring of Wade. Funches-Wade claims that Wade is “positioned to profit from the minor child’s name and gender change with various companies through contacts and marketing opportunities including but not limited to deals with Disney.”
“[Wade] told me that he intended to make our child very famous due to the name and gender issue and also informed me that there would be endorsements/contracts associated therewith.”
Siohvaughn Funches-Wade
Funches-Wade is requesting that the court prevents Zaya from being able to legally change his name until after his 18th birthday when he can make the decision himself with less pressure from his father and the media.
It’s not unreasonable to argue that most children who express a desire to “transition” are doing so because of social pressure. Additionally, new research suggests that adolescents who experience feelings of gender incongruence, often grow out of it with age. Rather than facilitate a gender transition that will leave a child physically and mentally damaged, adults should be the voice of sound reason.
Parents who exploit their children for social credit are despicable and should be called out for putting their own personal ambitions over the well-being of their child.
