Cardi B Defends Dwyane Wade’s Trans Daughter Zaya

Cardi B explained why people should keep their opinions to themselves about Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union’s trans daughter, Zaya, on Instagram live, after various celebrities spoke on the subject since Zaya came out as trans earlier this month. A few weeks ago, Dwyane and Gabrielle revealed to the world that their 12-year-old child identifies as a girl, and would thus forth go by Zaya and be referred to with female pronouns. The proud parents have been nothing but supportive of their daughter, and various celebrities have reached out to express their support as well. However, others were much more hateful. Boosie Badazz went on a transphobic rant (which eventually got him kicked out of Planet Fitness) about Zaya, insisting that Dwyane and his family have “gone too f*cking far.”Young Thug was also insensitive toward the 12-year-old, misgendering her just as Boosie did and claiming that “God don’t make mistakes.” Boosie and Thug received plenty of backlash for their comments, and now, Cardi has taken it upon herself to express how she feels about the whole situation. The rapper began explaining her stance by reminding everyone that Zaya is a child, and that we should all be more sensitive about how we speak about her.

“A lot of people have been giving opinions about this little kid wanting to transition and everything,” Cardi said. “And I feel like a lot of people are forgetting that this is a 12-year-old kid, that before you say your opinions and everything, let’s not forget that this is a kid. Let’s not forget that this kid could be very, very sensitive.” She went on to explain how nobody is “too young” to know who they are. “People are saying that this kid is too young to transition but it’s like…if you were born thinking that you are a girl in a boy’s body, how old do you have to be to keep knowing that that’s who you are? That’s who you are, that’s your identity. If that’s who you feel that you are, what is the age limit for you to know that that’s what you want to be?”

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Cardi then refers to a video she watched that gave her some perspective on trans issues. “I’ve seen a long, 18-minute video on Youtube—way before this Zaya situation—about this 5-year-old little girl,” she explains. “At 5 years old, she transitioned to be a girl and she knew that that’s what she wanted to be because…she knew that! She likes to wear dresses, she likes to play with Barbies. If you’re born like that you’re forever going to be like that. Whether the age that you pick it to be, it’s your choice.”

She also relates Zaya’s struggles growing up trans to her struggles growing up poor, indicating that children should be able to find their happiness now if they have the resources instead of waiting until they’re older. “There’s certain things that I always wanted to do when I was younger, right?” she says. “And I’ve started to do [them] now, now that I have money. I be like, ‘Wow, I wish I would’ve been learned how to do this. I wish I would’ve been knowing this and that.’ I would’ve been happy. What’s the point of you being older, and then transitioning, and then being like, ‘Damn, I should’ve been doing this. I could have found my happiness.’ Let people find their happiness, especially kids. Let them feel comfortable doing what they want to be.”