NEW YORK — Fashion’s biggest night out was also a big night for reflection.
Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union paid a touching tribute to their 14-year-old daughter, Zaya, at the Met Gala on Monday night, while also sharing powerful words of advice for other parents of trans kids.
The power couple’s fashion turned heads as they entered the celebrity-packed fund-raiser benefitting the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute: Union, 49, stunned in a silver sequin Versace number with a long feathered train and a massive flower accent around her waist; while Wade, 40, wore a white blazer, white pants, golden buttons — and no shirt.
But besides serving glitz, glamour and that glorious gown, the couple also used the opportunity to explain their undying support for their trans daughter, Zaya.
Both Wade, an NBA superstar, and Union, a Hollywood powerhouse, have been outspoken LGBTQ allies and fierce trans rights advocates ever since Zaya announced that she was going to start living as her true self, about two years ago.
When they stopped for photos on the red carpet, Variety’s Marc Malkin asked Wade what keeps him fighting for Zaya, adding that he has been “amazing” with his daughter.
“Just being a father and seeing our child grow up every day, and doing what you are supposed to do as a parent (which is) is to make sure that you sit back and see what it is in life that they want to do and try to go there with them, and try to help them, mold them into who it is they want to be,” Wade said, adding that they are just “doing their part” as parents.
“And we believe them when they tell us who they are,” added Union.
When asked if he had any advice for parents whose kids have just come out as trans, Wade said that acceptance should be unconditional, and people should never forget the feeling of love they had when they first held their child.
“The moment when you were in the hospital and you grabbed your daughter and you looked at your daughter, all the emotions that went through your mind and how much love filled your heart at that moment. Don’t let that ever leave you — no matter what,” he said.
“The one thing we do as parents is: We find our mini-mes and we try to make them just like us, but our kids are going to be who they are, and it’s our job to help mold them and try to push them in the places that they want to go,” he added.
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