Dwyane Wade and his 16-year-old daughter, Zaya, have launched a major online platform for transgender children and their families.
The two recently debuted Translatable, "a safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth to express themselves and is a resource hub for their parents, families, and support systems," per the website. Shortly after receiving the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award in Miami on Thursday (May 23), Wade, 42, couldn't help but admire his daughter in an interview with People. During the conversation, Wade commended Zaya for uplifting other trans youth, just four years after she publicly came out.
“She didn't ask for this extra excitement in life,” Wade told the outlet. “She just wanted to be a kid and do kid things and live her life and be selfish and worry about herself. That's what you're supposed to do at her age, worry about you. But she's thinking about a larger community, and so I'm damn proud of her as a father.”
As the Wades have been working on Translatable for roughly two years, the platform is still in its early stages but will soon welcome young LGBTQ+ community members to share their art, along with providing educational resources to them and their families. The father-daughter duo will also interact on the platform regularly, while the Elevate Prize has also provided $250,000 in funding for Translatable.
“You will hope as a parent that your kids feel comfortable to communicate with you when they're confused and they're looking for answers,” Wade continued. "Whatever it is they are experiencing, that they feel comfortable enough to express those things to you. You won't want it to be someone else. At the end of the day, they're your kids. But you have to create the environment for that."
Wade has long advocated for Zaya's gender identity in public appearances, even alongside his wife, actress Gabrielle Union-Wade.
