Dwyane Wade Talks About Supporting Zion During Pride: “Go And Be Your Amazing Self” (Video)

June is Pride month, but for those who are actually a part of the LGBTQ community, Pride is a year round, 24/7 thing. There’s no age or race qualifications, and Dwyane Wade supporting his 11 year-old son Zion during Pride, and various other things he is interested in, helps break down stigma and stereotypes within the Black community.

It serves such importance for the advancement of the LGBTQ within the Black community to have Wade supporting Zion. While there is still a stigma in the community, Wade being a representation of “manliness” can help break down more walls with people supporting their young Black LTBTQ family/youth.

Wade spoke with Variety about why he, along with his family supports Zion, and the fact he went to Pride at such a young age this past Spring. Wade was playing basketball at the time, but Zion’s brother Zaire, and step-mom Gabrielle Union were there to support him. Wade did show support and love through social media, captioning photos of the family with captions the “We support each other wide Pride!” and “It’s a family thing” (above).

“I don’t really talk about it much because it’s Zion’s story to tell,” Wade began. “I think as a family, we should support each other. That’s our job. And my job as a father is to facilitate their lives and to support them and be behind them in whatever they want to do.”

While all his kids are different, Wade stated that each kid requires different parenting. “This is my job as a father,” Wade continued. “I’m very uneasy about accolades that come from supporting my kids or the negativity that comes from it. I’m doing what every parent has to do. Once you bring kids into this world, you become unselfish. It’s my job to be their role model, to be their voice in my kids’ lives, to let them know you can conquer the world. So, go and be your amazing self and we’re going to sit back and just love you.”