Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade gave a sweet GLAAD Awards shout out to their daughter for teaching them about LGBTQ+ acceptance

For Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, the honour of presenting the trophy for Outstanding Drama Series at the GLAAD Media Awards last night was amplified by their own family experience. Earlier this year, the couple’s teen daughter, Zaya, came out to the public as transgender in a video featuring her dad and shared on social media by her mom. “I know it can get tough,” the teen said in the clip, “but I think you push through and be the best you. It’s become more accepting. Even through hard times you gotta push through, it’s very worth it. When you can look in the mirror and say ‘hi’ to yourself.”Last March at the Truth Awards, Wade and Union revealed that Zaya had told them about who she really was at age eight. Since her public coming out at age 12, the couple have expressed their pride in their daughter by celebrating Pride Week as a family this summer (which also happened to coincide with Zaya’s thirteenth birthday). Their latest public demonstration of love and support came this past Thursday when Wade told GLAAD Awards viewers that he and Union “stand as allies with the LGBTQ+ community as proud parents of a transgender child.”

 

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Mom and dad ready to present at the #GLAADawards. Tonight, we celebrate ? 5pm PT / 8pm ET @glaad

A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Jul 30, 2020 at 11:50am PDT

“Our daughter Zaya is leading us in our journey, and we’re doing all we can to give every one of our kids the ability to live their truth,” he said. "I didn’t always understand how to do that – but I thank Zaya for teaching me, and GLAAD for elevating the images and messages that accelerate acceptance in every family.”[video_embed id='1985291']RELATED: Jax Irwin, Kiley May, Cheri DiNovo and Vong Show discuss what makes a good ally to the LGBTQ+ community[/video_embed]With that, the couple gleefully announced the category winner, recognizing the groundbreaking show Pose for its television achievement (something the Emmys failed to do earlier this week). In their acceptance of the award, the series cast recited a group statement about their united goal of uplifting the voices of the communities. "Pose is a love letter to our forebearers and to ourselves, putting us at the center of a story of resilience, love, and family," said the cast. "A message more important now during a current climate where Black and Latinx communities continue to be disproportionately affected by a global pandemic and unjustly targeted and harmed by law enforcement."But let's be very, very clear: our lives matter,” they said. “And I'm gonna say that again for everybody in the back as well. Our lives matter. Black lives matter. And our commitment to telling our story will never waver."Check out the full acceptance speech in the video below.

.@itsgabrielleu and @DwyaneWade presented the #GLAADawards for Outstanding Drama Series to @PoseOnFX ✨ pic.twitter.com/0ZI6pSJiM2

— GLAAD (@glaad) July 31, 2020

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