Dwyane Wade plans to launch a new online transgender community called Translatable.
At the Elevate Prize Foundation's Make Good Famous Summit on May 23, the NBA Hall of Famer received the nonprofit organization's Elevate Prize Catalyst Award.
In an interview with The Associated Press Before the awards ceremony, the basketball star detailed the difficulties his daughter Zaya Wade, 17, faced after she publicly came out as transgender in 2020.
“We've done so many wonderful things here that it wasn't easy to leave,” Wade explained. “But the community wasn't here for Zaya, so the community wasn't here for us.”
Their coming out journey began right in the middle of a contentious time for transgender people in the US, with anti-trans legislation in Florida and other states driving many trans residents to safer states.
Last year, the Wade family sold their home in Florida and moved to California, where LGBT+ rights have more protection.
During her Elevate Prize Catalyst award acceptance speech, Wade acknowledged the current political climate and the danger many trans people face as a result.
He shared the award with his daughter, noting that without her he wouldn't feel inspired to create his latest project: Translatable, a safe online space for people like his daughter designed to act as a support system for transgender people and their families.
“The question presented to you was, 'If there is one thing you want to see changed in this community, what would it be?'” Wade said. “And, for her, it goes directly to her parents. She goes straight to the adults. She goes straight to us. It's not the children. We are. That's why she wanted to create a space that felt safe for parents and their children. That’s Translatable and it’s your baby.”
Funded by the Wade Family Foundation and built with support from the Human Rights Campaign and The Trevor Project, Wade said Translatable “will support growth, mental health and well-being and that this space ignites more conversations that lead to greater understanding and acceptance . .” Since he also received $250,000 from the prize, he noted that he plans to use that money solely for Translatable.
After hearing the basketball player's plans at the ceremony, Elevate Prize Foundation Executive Director Carolina García Jayaram made a separate additional donation to Translatable.
“Dwyane Wade and what he represents speaks to the spirit of the entire foundation,” Jayaram told the AP. “He is a great hero in the sports universe and even beyond basketball. He has been in the social justice space almost since the beginning of his NBA career and most people don't know it.”
He added: “We were dying to be part of what he is building.”
The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award amplifies its winner's philanthropic efforts through the foundation's resources and connections to make it easier for the winner's organizations to receive more donors and supporters.
