Dwyane Wade called out his ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches, for objecting to their daughter's name change. Funches claimed her ex-husband violated their custody agreement when he allowed their 15-year-old daughter, Zaya, to legally change her name.
Funches tried to argue that Wade was attempting to "capitalize” on related financial opportunities with the name change.
Wade responded to her ex-wife's arguments in a court filing on Monday.
“This petition is about allowing Zaya to take on the milestones of being a young adult with confidence and joy," the document reads.
“While it certainly would have been preferable for Zaya’s mother to be supportive of this important part of Zaya’s journey, Zaya should not be forced to put her life on hold while she waits for Siohvaughn to acknowledge and accept her truth," Wade's statement continues.
Wade and Funches married back in 2002 but split up in 2007. They finally divorced in 2010 after a lengthy legal battle. The court granted Wade sole custody of both of their kids.
Zaya first came out back in 2020. Wade and his current wife, Gabrielle Union, have been supportive in the two years since.
They described themselves as “proud parents" during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the time. Zaya has described coming out as "euphoric" and "freeing."
“There are genuinely people out there who think that you’re a kid, this is a phase or you don’t actually know what you’re talking about,” Zaya said in a clip from the Logo30 series. “I know that I’m trans, and it’s not like one day I just went, ‘I want to try out being trans.’ No. So just suck it up. We are who we are.”
[Via]
