NBA legend, Dwyane Wade has opened up about his 12-year-old son, Zion who is said to be gay, and what parenting has been like for him and his family.
According to the report by TMZ, Matt Barnes asked Dwyane Wade straight-up what it’s like raising a gay son coming from a hyper-masculine NBA background.
The former Miami star, who was a guest on Stephen Jackson and Barnes’ “All The Smoke” podcast this week, when asked about the approach to parenting a gay son, said:
“I grew up with the same perspective as a lot of these people out here that’s a little ignorant. I grew up with a similar perspective,” Wade says. “And, you meet people along the way that help you take those glasses off and put on some different ones. Look through life through a different lens. That’s what my wife has been able to do. So, it’s been cool.”
Dwyane and his wife, Gabrielle Union, who have been publicly supportive of their 12-year-old Zion (Wade’s son from a previous relationship) over the past year to the extent of even taking him to a Gay Pride Festival in Miami Beach last April, revealed everything about having to be open minded and accept things the way they have come. He said:
“I had to look myself in the mirror when my son at the time was 3 years old and me and my wife started having conversations about us noticing that he wasn’t on the boy vibe that Zaire [Wade’s other son] was on,” Wade said.
“And, I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘What if your son come home and tell you he’s gay? What are you going to do? How are you going to be? How are you going to act? It ain’t about him. He knows who he is. It’s about you. Who are you?'”
Wade says that conversation with himself wasn’t easy … the 37-year-old told Barnes and Jackson he grew up “ignorant” and had to lean on his wife to open his eyes.
“I grew up with the same perspective as a lot of these people out here that’s a little ignorant. I grew up with a similar perspective,” Wade says. “And, you meet people along the way that help you take those glasses off and put on some different ones. Look through life through a different lens. That’s what my wife has been able to do. So, it’s been cool.“
Wade has been very vocal in defending his son and his family from critics … and he tells Barnes and Jackson he feels a duty to be a voice for others who can’t speak up the way he can.
“Everybody get used to it, man,” Wade says. “This is the new normal. So if anybody different, we looked at as different. You know what I’m saying? The ones that don’t understand it. The ones that don’t get it. The ones that are stuck in a box. You’re different.
Not the people that are out here living their lives, man.”
As for how his son is handling it all … Wade said, “You want to talk about strength and courage? My 12-year-old has way more than I have.”
“You can learn something from your kids.“