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Watch Zaya Wade throw the first pitch at Chicago Cubs game & cheer for this trans trailblazer
The Wade family is practically Chicago royalty! Of course, the Cubs invited the trans celeb up to the pitcher's mound.
The stereotype that queer people aren't into sports has proven itself markedly untrue time and time again. This year the Olympics has a record-breaking 193 out athletes competing in the games! The WNBA is consistently as gay as it gets. The NHL had to reverse its decision to ban Pride-specific jerseys and stick tape after protests from fans and players alike. And yet, some still drag their feet. While all but one Major League Baseball team has a Pride Night during Pride month, one team has gone out of its way to include LGBTQ+ fans all year round by having a trans celebrity throw the first pitch!
It was Zaya Wade who stepped out onto Wrigley Field to throw the first pitch at the Chicago Cubs game last week. It makes sense for the Cubs to invite Wade down for the honor, her dad, NBA legend Dwayne Wade may have made a name for himself playing for the Miami Heat, but he's Chicago born and raised. He and his family relocated from Miami back to Chicago following the rise in anti-trans rhetoric in Florida over recent years, and the Windy City couldn't be happier to have D Wade home. Given the Wade family's status as Chicago royalty, and Zaya's as a current trans trailblazer, this was really a no-brainer for the Cubs.
The initial response to Zaya's pitch seemed to trend somewhat negative online. She received some transphobic hate from fans on the Cubs' social media — none of it original, none of it worth highlighting or repeating, all of it worthless dithering from people spending precious minutes of their singular human life to bully a 17-year-old girl on the internet.
No one should have to experience transphobic hate, online or otherwise, regardless of how well they can handle it, but it is great to see a trans person with such a wide network of support protecting her from the hate. In years past, Zaya had comments turned off on her Instagram, which her dad said was done specifically to protect her from anti-trans hate. Her dad and stepmom, actress Gabrielle Union, have been so vocally and unabashedly supportive of Zaya since she came out in 2020 that they are trailblazers themselves, setting an example of what supporting your trans child should really look like. Case in point, the Wade-Union family launched Translatable, a resource for trans youth and specifically trans youth of color, earlier this year.
The hate shouldn't have happened. Period. But the Cubs social media seems to have done a good job at cleaning out the transphobic comments since last week, and I think seeing Zaya Wade in all her glory is always a win. As the Wade family has been paving the way for more and more families and friends of trans people to step up their game, here's hoping Zaya's first pitch paves the way for many, many more from trans people to come.
Rowan Ashley Smith has often been described as "a multi-hyphenate about town." He loves work that connects him to his cultures as a gay, Jewish, multiracial trans man. Before breaking into journalism, the best days of his professional life were spent as a summer camp professional, a librarian, and an HIV prevention specialist. His work has been featured in GO Magazine, pride.com, and The Advocate. In what is left of his free time, Rowan enjoys performing stand up comedy, doing the NYT crossword, and spending time with his two partners, two children, and four cats.
Rowan Ashley Smith has often been described as "a multi-hyphenate about town." He loves work that connects him to his cultures as a gay, Jewish, multiracial trans man. Before breaking into journalism, the best days of his professional life were spent as a summer camp professional, a librarian, and an HIV prevention specialist. His work has been featured in GO Magazine, pride.com, and The Advocate. In what is left of his free time, Rowan enjoys performing stand up comedy, doing the NYT crossword, and spending time with his two partners, two children, and four cats.
