We are experiencing vitriol and institutionally sanctioned ignorance against the LGBTQ+ community – especially gay and trans children whose existence is being censored by legislation like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” “Threat” laws and Texas’ continued attempts to separate transgender youth from the families that support them. Given this situation, Gabriel Union and Dwyane Wade were on Saturday at National Colored The President’s Award speeches at the AAA Image Awards were even more important: Their speeches honored their transgender daughter, Zaya, and focused on the support and protection needs of the Black transgender community.
The coalition called the NAACP “an organization that has carried us through more than a century of relentless challenge, pain and triumph, and change,” adding that it is “now again With us standing on the feet of a very new era of activism that demands that we collectively answer a simple question: Will we fight for some, or will we fight for all of our people?… .. Black trans people are targeted, intimidated and hunted down in this country every day, everywhere, and there are very few whispers about it. Honestly, as activists or leaders, we don’t treat this the way we do as parents It’s a job—parents who love our kids and do everything we can to keep them visible and keep them safe.”
For Wade’s part, he mentioned Zaya’s role as a trans teen Of the difficulties he faces in making his life public, he said: “Zaya, as your father, I just want to do the right thing. You walk out of that house the way you do. I admire how you deal with the ignorance of our world.” The phenomenon of celebrity parents raising kids at award shows is nothing new — think of the countless “kids, if you watch It’s getting late, go to bed”, you’ve heard the famous presenter’s quip during award presentations – but given the increased scrutiny surrounding Wade and Union’s raising transgender children, it’s especially admirable to see them Calling attention to the sobering fact that Black transgender and gender non-conforming individuals face some of the highest rates of discrimination in the already targeted LGBTQ+ community.
Right-wing politicians and activists often respond to the specific issues facing queer and trans children by simply pretending they don’t exist, making Union and Wade’s public and highly visible ally even more difficult. valuable. Many children do not have access to the kind of care and support that Union and Wade have promised Zaya and the wider transgender community. But hopefully the couple’s unabashed advocacy will inspire fans and viewers to stand up for the marginalized youth in their own lives.
