Timeline: Siohvaughn Wade-Funches Objects to Zaya Wade’s Name/Gender Change
Timeline of coverage in right wing media of news that Zaya Wade’s mother has objected to a name and gender change for Zaya, who is supported by her father Dwyane Wade.
by Evan Urquhart
This is our timeline coverage of the news that Zaya Wade’s mother has objected to a proposal to legally change Zaya’s name and gender on the grounds that her father, Dwyane Wade, is pressuring Zaya to do it for financial reasons. The story was first reported early on the morning of November 2, 2022, in the Blast, a celebrity news, tabloid-style website. This timeline is incomplete, due to lack of time. It will be updated occasionally with a focus on right wing sources.
A celebrity news site, the Blast, in a story by Liz Walters, claims to have obtained court documents showing that Dwyane Wade’s ex-wife is attempting to prevent her daughter, Zaya, from legally changing the name and gender on her birth certificate.
Wade has long been known for his public support of his transgender daughter, Zaya. In the documents, his ex-wife alleges he may be pushing Zaya to go forward with the legal name and gender changes for financial gain. She alleges that Wade told her there was a financial benefit to Zaya making these legal changes.
One notoriously transphobic media outlet, the UK Daily Mail, has already seized on the story as of this writing, just past noon on 11/2/2022. We will update with new info and keep track of how this story is treated by the right wing media.
Some of the best early reporting was in Fox News’ sports section, in an article by Ryan Gaydos. This piece includes the information that Wade has sole custody, that court documents say his ex-wife was notified as a courtesy, and provide further context about the acrimony of the divorce and the relationship between Wade, his children, and their mom.
UPDATE (11/3/2022): Dwyane Wade responded with an instagram post early on Wednesday morning.
11/3/2022
More Celeb News: Just Jared, another of the celebrity news sites we are struggling to differentiate, covers Dwyane Wade’s response to his ex-wife’s attempt to derail Zaya’s document change.
Oldies Radio: An oldies radio station has the story.
11/2/2022
Anti-Woke Sports Blog: The right wing sports site OutKick covers the story with a strong transphobic slant.
Pop Culture: SK Pop, which bills itself as a global pop culture content platform, has a glowing profile of Wade-Funches that does not go into the context of her acrimonious divorce or loss of full custody to ex-husband Dwayne Wade.
Urban Entertainment: Parlé Magazine, which describes itself as an urban entertainment site, covers the outlines of the story.
Canadian Newspaper: A mainstream Canadian newspaper with a reputation for a center-right lean, posts a story covering the basics and crediting the Blast and the Daily Mail.
Sports News: Clutch points, a sports news site, covers the story with relatively little transphobic spin compared to other accounts. (Sports media in general seems like it may have more familiarity with Wade-Funches, and be more skeptical as a result.)
Black Media: Black Enterprise, a Black-owned media company, has a brief story based on other accounts. While not notably transphobic, it doesn’t include details which tend to discredit Wade-Funches.
TV Entertainment Newsmagazine: Entertainment Tonight, a long running syndcated entertainment newsmagazine, also covers the story, again based its own reporting rather than crediting the Blast. We’re including a screenshot of some details from the court documents here, but these are not exclusive to ET and can be found in many stories of this type:
Legacy Celebrity News: People Magazine, a legacy publication that has covered celebrity news for many decades, has an independently reported story that notes a prior nuisance lawsuit by Wade-Funches against Wade that was dismissed.
Celebrity-and-Moms: A celebrity/parenting news site, Cafe Mom, covers the story, displaying some anti-trans, or perhaps just pro-mom, bias:
Sinclair Owned Local Stations: Right wing media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcast Group has a write up from their National Desk covering the basics, This draws on reporting in the Blast and mentioning the Daily Mail piece also.
Right Wing Behemouth: FOX News provides context on the Wade family and mentions a history acrimony between Wade and his ex-wife who is now claiming Zaya is being pressured to change her birth certificate. This is a very useful story, written by Ryan Gaydos, that should not be avoided bc of the outlet.
Celebrity News: Page Six, a well known celebrity news outlet, runs the story. While it does not substantially differ from reporting in the Blast, it seems to have been independently obtained and several subsequent stories credit this as their original source.
Celebrity Gossip: Another celebrity news site, Radar Online, shares the story. The short piece does not seem to contain any independent reporting, but does not credit the Blast, either. (The tone is slightly more skewed towards the ex-wife’s side than the Blast’s version.)
British Anti-trans Tabloid: The Daily Mail is the first outlet to pick up the story. Their story has a clear editorial spin towards the side of Wade’s ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches-Wade.
Story Breaks: The Blast, in a story by Liz Walters, claims to have obtained court documents showing that Dwyane Wade’s ex-wife is attempting to prevent her daughter, Zaya, from legally changing the name and gender on her birth certificate.
The Blast’s reporting is largely neutral without clear editorializing for either Wade or his ex-wife’s side of the story. Previous stories in the tabloid about Zaya seem entirely or primarily positive toward Wade for supporting his daughter’s identity.