Young Thug has faced backlash after misgendering Dwyane Wade’s daughter.
Last week, NBA star Dwyane appeared on The Ellen Show and revealed his daughter Zaya recently came out as trans, saying he and his wife Gabrielle Union are “proud parents of a child in the LGBT+ community” and “proud allies”.
The announcement was met with positivity from many fans who praised Dwyane and his wife Gabrielle Union for their inclusive parenting, but not everyone was supportive.
In a now-deleted tweet, rapper Young Thug appeared to deliberately misgender Zaya, writing: “All I wanna say to dwade son is ‘GOD DONT MAKE MISTAKES’ but hey live your true self.”
After being accused of transphobia, he removed the tweet and tried to clarify what he meant by posting, “You’re gods best Creation,” although there’s been no apology yet.
It’s disappointing given the open-minded views to gender Young Thug has expressed in the past. He regularly appears in clothes typically associated with women, including wearing a dress on the cover of his mixtape Jeffery.
What’s more, when he appeared in a Calvin Klein advert in 2016, Young Thug said: “In my world, it don’t matter, you can be a gangster with a dress or you can be a gangster with baggy pants. I feel like there’s no such thing as gender.”
But Zaya will always have support from her family, with Dwyane saying it’s his and Gabrielle’s responsibility “to go out and get information, to reach out to every relationship we have” to educate themselves about the trans experience.
“Once she came home and said, ‘Call me Zaya and I’m ready to take on this,’ I looked at her and said, ‘You are a leader. It’s our opportunity to allow you to be a voice.’ Right now it’s through us, because she’s 12, but eventually it will be through her.”
Last year, Dwyane publicly voiced his support for his daughter, then known publicly as Zion, after she attended Miami Pride. In an interview with Variety, the basketball player explained that he saw it as his “job as a father” to support his daughter.
“I think as a family, we should support each other,” he said. “That’s our job. And my job as a father is to facilitate their lives and to support them and be behind them in whatever they want to do.”
The family have also shown their support of the LGBTQ community by launching a line of inclusive t-shirts.
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