Former NBA athlete Dwyane Wade blasted legislation the prohibits transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. Wade, 40, has a 15-year-old "transgender" daughter.
“As blessed as it is for my daughter to have parents who can support her, I’m still afraid every moment she leaves the house,” Wade told CNN’s Poppy Harlow at the TIME Magazine Time100 Summit in New York City on Tuesday. “And not just because of gun violence, but because of the way people perceive her in this world.”
When asked about legislation created in states like Louisiana to prohibit biological male “transgender” athletes from competing in women’s sports, Wade said it’s a “joke.”
“To me, it’s a joke,” he stated. “This is our life. We live this.”
"When you’re out there making rules and if you’re not experiencing this, if you’re not living this, and you’re just out there signing away and making laws, that’s not right. That’s a joke. Come and live a day in my world with my daughter. Come and see how it is to walk through this world as her,” he said.
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Watch: @DwyaneWade speaks out against anti-trans laws, as he opens up about his daughter at the #TIME100 Summit https://t.co/q8SUg1ayK6 pic.twitter.com/SerwBQkOlr
— TIME (@TIME) June 7, 2022
States like Louisiana and Ohio have advanced legislation to protect women’s sports following the controversy surrounding transgender collegiate swimmer Will “Lia” Thomas. Thomas, a biological male, competed on the women’s swim team at University of Pennsylvania after competing on the men’s swim team for three years. Thomas won races competing against women and took home a Division I title at the NCAA swimming championships in March.
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