“Thank you for showing the world what courage looks like,” Dwayne Wade had told his daughter Zaya during his NAACP Image Awards acceptance speech last year. But, it seems, there’s more reasons to thank and celebrate the legacy the 17-year-old is leaving behind…

Zaya Wade has always been a cut above the rest. Courages, bold, and purposeful are just some of the words that her family would probably describe her with. But this time, she’s also a Groundbreaker. Or that’s what the LGBTQ+ will know her by from now. On December 11, the Out100 event—which honors the most influential LGBTQ+ folks—kicked off in Los Angeles, where the young Wade won the Groundbreaker award.

But she wasn’t alone. As expected, her mother and step-mother Gabrielle Union took to the red carpet to support her. Zaya was dressed in a Robby Kobo back lena Jacket Dress, with leopard fur trimming, and Mary Jane heels. Union, on the other hand, donned a green and brown gingham dress, as Wade showed up with white sweater layered under a dark denim jacket with dark slacks.

Upon returning to his self-titled podcast on December 19, Dwyane reflected on what he called a “personal culture moment.” It was a night dedicated entirely to Zaya; a day where Dwyane moved away from his usual spotlight and focused entirely on being a father.

“I got to jump on another culture moment, and it’s a personal culture moment for me. I got an opportunity two nights ago to go to Out100 and support my daughter Zaya. And why this was such a big moment for me as a father…when I’m in certain places I go, I get to be Dwyane Wade, and it’s about me. And then it’s certain times about my wife and certain times about my kids. And so it’s about my daughter and so I’m just in Father mode,” the star said.

For Dwyane, the significance of Zaya’s honor as one of the most influential LGBTQ+ figures was profound. He realized that just as he had once been in awe of his achievements, Zaya was experiencing her own groundbreaking moment.

“My daughter had a moment where we just sitting there eating McDonald’s french fries. She was like [to herself], ‘I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe…I’m honored.’ I’m listening… and it hit me—this is her ESPYs moment. Just like I felt when I first walked into the ESPYs. I couldn’t believe I was there. This is what Out100 means to my daughter. At that moment I got a chance to get an insight of the six-year-old Zaya…I mean, the one that was screaming to one day hopefully live her truth. And now she’s able to, and then she’s here at this Out100…is one of the top LGBTQIA award shows…they’ve been doing it for over 30 years that really represents the community, and so it’s a big big deal.lieve I was there.”

“So as a father, to be able to be there to support her was just such a dope moment for me. Because at the end of the day, I was just looking around and just nothing, nothing mattered in the world at that point. But just being a father and watching my child be happy. I think that’s one thing to watch my daughter be comfortable in her surroundings in her environments with people that she’s admired, that she’s watched, that she knows, that she studied, she’s watching icons and trailblazers in her community. People have to fight for their lives every day [for] their place and just watching her geek out and be a kid and go and take pictures with everybody…it was a big culture moment you know for our family.”

Notably, Zaya came out as transgender when she was just 12 years old. Her father vividly recalls the exact conversation that went down, and how it led him to question his own parenting. Talking to with TODAY.com, the retired NBA icon recalled in June last year, “So I came home and I just remember my child being scared to talk to me, like hiding in my wife’s arm in a chair. I think I’m this dad that’s like, ‘Hey, come and tell me anything! I’m a cool dad. And so I had to check myself. I had to go look myself in the mirror and ask myself: ‘Why was my child scared? Scared to tell me something about herself?'” 

“In a lot of work as parents — and as people — what we do is we put our fears and everything on our kids. And I guess I was doing that. So I had to go look myself in the mirror and ask myself… What is it about my masculinity that has my child afraid?…It was fear in my child’s face to tell me.” And since then, there’s been no stopping the father-daughter duo…Well, except for Zaya’s biological mother Siohvaughn taking things to court. But before we get to that…

In May this year, the father-daughter duo launched the Transtable project—a “safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth to express themselves and is a resource hub for our parents, families, and support systems”—which Zaya termed as one of her proudest achievements.

As per Out’s official website, the youngster said, “Being able to do something I love with my dad makes it even more impactful for me, and I hope for all trans families…Honestly, my biggest joy and biggest obstacle is being trans in front of the whole world. It has challenged me every single day, and given me the opportunity to grow beyond heights I never thought I could reach.”

Having said that, clearly nothing can be as groundbreaking as watching your kid “live her truth”. However, the same cannot be said for Siohvaughn Funches-Wade…

When Zaya’s private life was taken to court

As per Dwyane Wade’s ex-wife, the NBA star was reportedly Zaya to be “commercialized at a young age.” Funches even went as far as to file a legal petition to court when the daughter (originally named Zion) to prevent Wade from allowing the 15-year-old to change her name and gender officially.

As per court documents, Funches stated, “I contend that our child should be given the opportunity to decide for themselves at the age of majority if they want to move forward with changing their name and/or gender.”

“I have concerns that Petitioner 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, and will receive based upon Petitioner’s statements to me, on the basis of our child’s name and/or gender change. This matter has been highly reported in the media and there will likely be media pressure on the minor child.”

Wade, on the other hand, appeared dejected and furious at the same time. “Since this must be the new way of parenting, I guess I have to address these allegations here, which is a damn shame. While I’m on a life-changing trip in our motherland, Africa, I’ve received a social media post about me forcing our 15 year old child to be someone she’s not and to do something against her will. These are serious and harmful allegations that have hurt our children,” he had said in a statement on Instagram.

“I’ve given her the opportunity to reach out to Zaya’s teachers, doctors and therapist over the years and even meet her friends, so she could get her own understanding of our child’s needs for her LIFE. She won’t do it! She has not been to a school, recital, graduation, school dance, play date, practice, parent teacher conference etc and Zaya has given her every opportunity to try to get to know her. She won’t do it.”

“Zaya is not that same 3 year child anymore and she’s screaming that to the world but most importantly to her Mother! No one in our house would ever force Zaya or any of our children to do anything against their will, much less force an identity on them. This isn’t a game for my family and definitely not for Zaya. This is her life!”

As for the divorced couple, their relationship has soured long before this, with a divorce in 2013. In an ESPN documentary, the former Miami Heat star had opened up about the situation, saying, “Our relationship was rocky. We got together at 16 years old so we had a lot of differences and we didn’t know how to handle those. My divorce was taking forever. She wound up having 13 different lawyers in the process. So every time you get a new lawyer, the case starts over. I’m having a hard time having a relationship with my kids, seeing my kids. A lot of times she would not bring them out and I would have to get the police involved to find her. … It became ugly and nasty.”

“My emotions were all over the place because on one hand, you want to celebrate a victory, but on the other end, no one wins. There’s no winner in a custody battle,” he had further said. As for Funches, she had once called the couple’s Miami residence, as a “$4 million prison” in her The True Story for God’s Glory memoir.

But, enough of that. For now, let’s just let 17-year-old Zaya shine under the limelight!