Dwyane Wade, a Utah Jazz part-owner and former Miami Heat star, revealed in a recent interview that he moved his family out of Florida because of that state’s recent litany of anti-LGBTQ legislation.
Wade’s 15-year-old daughter, Zaya, came out as transgender in 2020.
In an episode of “Headliners” set to air Thursday, Wade was asked by host Rachel Nichols how he feels about Florida politicians who count themselves among his fans but who are vocal proponents of anti-LGBTQ policies.
His answer, as shared exclusively with People magazine: “My family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And so that’s one of the reasons why I don’t live there.”
In recent months, Florida has passed legislation that targets members of the LGBTQ community in myriad ways, such as banning people from using a bathroom other than their sex assigned at birth, preventing children from watching drag shows, and banning classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis visited Utah this past Saturday, appearing at the UCCU Center on the Utah Valley University campus to give the keynote address at the state Republican Party’s annual organizing convention.
While there, he touted his pushback against the perceived indoctrination of students in Florida schools.
“It’s what I refer to as the ‘woke mind virus.’ We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die,” DeSantis said.
In the same speech, he also discussed Utah’s recent ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and highlighted his push to do the same in Florida.
“We’ve already done this through our medical board, and it’s sad that we have to do this, and I know Utah has had to do — we are going to prohibit for minors, gender surgeries and puberty blockers,” he said.
Florida’s medical board banned gender-affirming care for minors in February, according to USA Today. State lawmakers there are considering a couple of pieces of legislation to enshrine the ban into law.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, earlier this month, a Republican state legislator in Florida called transgender people “demons and imps” and compared them to “mutants from another planet.”
Wade sold his Miami property in 2021 and now lives in Los Angeles.
“I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions,” he told Nichols, per People.
The NBA Hall of Fame inductee purchased a minority share of the Utah Jazz in April 2021.
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