The Arkansas Senate has passed a bill that would prevent medical practitioners from providing healthcare to trans minors in a shocking blow to the LGBT+ community.
Among the many people to speak out about it is Dwyane Wade, who has a transgender daughter.
Last year, Wade says trans daughter Zaya knew gender identity since she was 3 years old.
When asked if he knew early on that Zaya, who was assigned male at birth, identified as a transgender girl, Wade responded: “I knew early on that I had to check myself. … I’ve been a person in the locker room that has been a part of the conversation that has said the wrong phrases and the wrong words myself.”
“My daughter was my first interaction when it comes to having to deal with this conversation,” he explained. “Hopefully I’m dealing with it the right way. … Inside our home we see the smile on my daughter’s face, we see the confidence that she’s able to walk around and be herself and that’s when you know you’re doing right.”
In a video recorded for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Laverne Cox hit out at Arkansas politicians for “targeting children”.
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“It’s exhausting,” Cox said in the emotional video. “I encourage us to look at this in the context of years-long attempts to stigmatise and further marginalise trans people and have that stigma codified into law.
“This is not new. We’ve seen bathroom bills, we’ve seen other bills in previous years, and now we see bills like HB 1570, which would criminalise doctors providing healthcare – medically necessary health care – to children.”
