Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Dwyane Wade said he's restricting comments on his daughter Zaya's Instagram account to protect her mental health.
The former NBA player shared the update in a tweet Thursday after another user, who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, asked why they couldn't share their support on his daughter's posts. Zaya, 15, came out as transgender in February 2020.
"For Zaya's mental health and privacy we've decided not to allow the hate into her comments," Wade wrote. "Thank you for wanting to spread and send her love."
—DWade (@DwyaneWade) September 29, 2022
On September 17, the teenager shared images from her new campaign with Tiffany on Instagram, debuting a new hairstyle for the photoshoot.
In May Zaya told People's Dory Jackson that she received harsh comments online from people who tried to dictate her physical appearance.
"As a trans person, once I came out, there was a lot of hateful comments about how I should grow my hair out long or fit into a certain version of femininity, even though that's not true at all," she said. "That kind of advice is just trying to break you, but don't let it."
Wade has been an outspoken supporter of his daughter. The same month that she came out, Wade spoke to Robin Roberts on Good Morning America about learning what it means to be transgender.
"I've been a person in a locker room that has been a part of the conversation that has said the wrong phrases and the wrong words myself," he said. "As I got older and I watched my daughter grow, I had to go and look at myself in the mirror and say, 'Who are you? What are you going to do if your child comes home and says, "Dad, I'm not a boy … I'm a trans girl." What are you going to do?' That was my moment of real."
In June 2021, the Miami Heat legend also told Today's Craig Melvin that raising Zaya taught him to be a better parent, noting that his daughter "allowed us gracefully to be her support system."
Wade shares Zaya and her brother Zaire, 20, with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. He also has an 8-year-old son, Xavier, from a previous relationship and shares 3-year-old Kaavia with his wife, actress Gabrielle Union.
