Is calling your gay son one of your “girls” offensive or the sign of a loving father? This is the discussion the Wade family has found itself in this week.
Ever since announcing the support of their son at Miami Pride earlier this year, retired NBA player Dwyane Wade and actress Gabrielle Union have slowly become a living example of good parenting and family support of a gay teen. But the internet may have changed its mind on this based off of one Instagram story picture.
This past Tuesday, Dwyane Wade posted a picture of his wife, their 11-mont-old baby girl Kaavia James, and Wades’s 12-year-old son Zion Malachi Airamis. To caption the picture, the former NBA star simply wrote, “My girls.”
Unfortunately, that picture was then met with ridicule on Twitter. One Twitter user shared the picture on Twitter asked others, “What y’all think about this?” This then resulted in several transphobic tweets.
https://twitter.com/youngkrag/status/1184145146230824960
https://twitter.com/thepegahontas/status/1184192807537381376
Thankfully though, the tweet was also met with many responses supporting the family and asking for the original poster to mind their own business.
this is so simple yet well said
— trin (@trinitykinsler) October 15, 2019
I fw it bc there’s so much negativity when it comes to black homosexuals expecally males that as a kid I feel that parents should help embrace and accept there children for who they are🤷🏽♀️
— 🇹🇹 (@thedtxkayc) October 15, 2019
Though, this tweet also brought up the topic of whether Zion had expressed being transgender to his parents. Many Twitter users assumed as much, though no word was given on whether that was true or not.
Then in response to the pushback and support for the Wade family, the original poster shared that she had no problem iwth the picture. This incited the ridicule of several others. Many questioned why the post was made in the first place.
Girl so then why post it? You knew exactly what you were doing! Chile
— Chris Trotman (@ChrisTrotmanMUA) October 15, 2019
Despite the original poster already pulling back on the tweet, Gabrielle Union herself decided to comment on the picture and tweet. In her own post, Union wrote, “Looks like love to me. I truly hope that everyone gets the love, support and hugs they deserve. Also Kaav ain’t with the dumb s***. Peace and Blessings good people.”
Looks like love to me 🤷🏾♀️ I truly hope that everyone gets the love, support and hugs they deserve. Also Kaav ain't with the dumb shit. Peace & Blessings good people. https://t.co/faFyusNktj
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2019
And as well as Union’s tweet silences the situation, we feel it’s the below tweet that says it all.
I think it takes no effort to be kind or mind ya business.
— 🐕🦺🐕🚀🏳️🌈 (@reggben32) October 15, 2019
