Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade celebrate their trans daughter Zaya’s sweet 16

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade honored their trans daughter Zaya on Tuesday with a very special sweet 16 post on Instagram.

Both Union, 50, and Wade, 41 – who recently moved out of Florida due to the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies – posted a collection of photographs that showed a few milestones from Zaya’s life this past year.

In addition to some sweet family snaps, the Bring It On star and her NBA legend shared photos from Zaya’s winter formal and her runway debut for Miu Miu during Paris Fashion Week.

The proud parents kept their captions simple, with Union simply pairing ’16’ with a black heart emoji and Wade writing ‘6Teen’ with another cute heart emoji.  

And Zaya showed her appreciation with her own message on Instagram. ’16,’ she wrote. ‘so thankful for all the love.’

Major milestone! Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade honored their trans daughter Zaya on Tuesday with a very special sweet 16 post on Instagram

Special moments: Both Union, 50, and Wade, 41, posted a collection of photographs that showed a few milestones from Zaya’s life this past year. One of their moments captured the trio looking glamorous in all-black at Zaya’s runway debut for Miu MIu 

The power couple’s birthday tribute to Zaya comes after they moved their family out Florida due to the state’s anti-LGBTQ policies.

During an interview with journalist, host and NBA reporter Rachel Nichols on her show Headliners, Wade explained why he decided to leave the state he called home, despite being a celebrated figure.

‘You know, obviously, the taxes are great. Having Wade County is great. 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,’ he stated.

‘A lot of people don’t know that. I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions.’

Wade and Union accepted the prestigious President’s Award for their support of the LGBTQ+ community in February at the 54th Annual NAACP Awards.

Delivering a powerful speech, the former basketball player took addressed his daughter from the stage, praising her for handling the ‘ignorance in our world.’ 

‘Zaya,’ he began, ‘as your father, all I’ve wanted to do is get it right. I have sat back and watched how graceful you have taken on the public scrutiny and even though it’s not easy, I watched you walk out of the house every morning as yourself.’ 

The proud father continued: ‘I admire how you have handled the ignorance in our world. I admire that you face it every day. To say that your village is proud of you is an understatement.’ 

Sweet 16: Union has been a staunch supporter of Zaya and the star’s birthday tribute to her step-daughter showed their close bond 

Fashionistas: The duo share an incredible fashion sense, with Zaya taking the fashion industry by storm as a model

Tight-knit: The Bring It On star included a heartwarming snippet that showed he and Zaya bonding by the ocean

A-list support system: In addition to some sweet family snaps, the Bring It On star and her NBA legend shared a cute snippet that showed them cheering on Zaya as she looked gorgeous for her winter formal

Concluding his remarks, the 13-time NBA All-Star said: ‘Zaya, you have made me a better human just simply by being who you were born to be. Our baby girl, Zaya Wade. Thank you for showing the world what courage looks like. I am proud that I was chosen to stand in place as your father. Thank you so much to the NAACP for this incredible honor.’

In August, Wade filed a petition to allow Zaya to legally change her gender, and name from Zion Malachi Airamis Wade to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade. Zaya has been going by the name of Zaya for two years.

Zaya’s birth mother Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, who was married to Dwyane from 2002 to 2007, previously said in court documents that she believed Wade ‘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.’

In her filed opposition, she said she wants Zaya to wait until she’s 18 before changing her name and alleging that Wade was pushing for the name change for business.

‘I have concerns that (Dwyane) 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,’ she said in her legal filing.

She also cited a conversation in April during which she claims Dwyane told her ‘that a lot of money had been already made and that additional money will be made in relation to our child’s name and gender issue.’

‘(Dwyane) 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,’ she claimed.

Wade hit back at his ex on Instagram at the time,  slamming her claims that he’s exploiting their daughter, accusing her of ‘hurting their children’ with her lawsuit, and reminding the world of their bitter 2011 divorce battle, which resulted in him being awarded sole custody of both their children.

Championing their daughter: The proud parents recently accepted the President’s Award for their support of the LGBTQ+ community at the NAACP Image Awards in February 

Major move: The power couple’s birthday tribute to Zaya comes after they moved their family out Florida due to the state’s anti-LGBTQ policies; Dwyane, Zaya and Gabrielle pictured in November 2021 

Strained relationship: Zaya’s birth mother Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, who was married to Dwyane from 2002 to 2007, was a roadblock on Zaya’s journey, as she asked a judge to not allow her daughter to change her name or gender until she turned 18

In February, Funches-Wade’s petition was refused and Zaya was granted permission to change her name and gender. 

Ever since Zaya came out to her family – and then to the world – she has had Wade’s full-fledged support. Not only did he lovingly accept his daughter’s sexual identify, but he – along with Union – set out on a journey to learn as much as he could about the LGBTQ+ community.

Wade first revealed that Zaya was transgender to the public in February 2020; she has since launched a major career for herself as a model and has become a budding social media star – gaining more than 603,000 followers on her Instagram account. 

Wade explained that Zaya later told him and Union that she knew was transgender since she was three years old, but that it took years of doing ‘research’ for her to be able to voice it to her loved ones.