Gabrielle Union-Wade has a new film coming out, and she said the storyline is one she can relate to. The upcoming film, The Inspection, is about a homophobic prison guard named Inez French who denounces her gay son.
“It’s tough because [these scenes are a] reality in our household. It’s not some Wicked Witch of the West. These are real people in our lives that we’re dealing with that have a major impact on my loved ones,” Union told InStyle during an interview.
The 50-year-old referred to the ongoing legal battles between Zaya Wade’s mother, Siohvaughn Funches-Wade and Dwayne Wade. The two are at odds about Zaya’s name and gender change.
“And even something like a scene involving [my character’s son’s] birth certificate, when we shot it didn’t necessarily resonate in the same way,” Union continued. “I knew it was obviously important in the scene, but it’s taken on a different significance as my own child fights to change her birth certificate to reflect her gender and her name and everything just feels different.”
Siovaughn alleges that the former Heat player is trying to profit from the gender change and believes Zaya,15, should wait until she’s 18 or the age of majority. Early November, The retired NBA star responded to his ex-wife’s allegations in a lengthy post via Instagram early November.
“Zaya is not that same 3-year child anymore, and she’s screaming that to the world but most importantly to her Mother!” Wade said. “No one in our house would ever force Zaya or any of our children to do anything against their will, much less force an identity on them.”
The 40-year-old claims that Siovaughn has refused to speak with Zayas doctors, therapists, teachers, or friends over the years and hasn’t been a present mother despite being given the opportunity.
“She won’t do it! She has not been to a school, recital, graduation, school dance, play date, practice, parent-teacher conference, etc and Zaya has given her every opportunity to try to get to know her.”
The news of Zaya coming out as transgender broke in 2020 on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Wade discussed his daughter’s transition with the host, shared that she’d be going by the name Zaya, and referred to using she/her pronouns.
Siovaughn and Dwayne got married in 2002 and divorced in 2013. They share two children, Zaire, 20, and Zaya, 15. Gabrielle and Wade met in 2007, married in 2014, and had their daughter, Kaavia James, 4, in 2018.