Dwyane Wade's daughter Zaya Wade's modest birthday became a bold stand for something bigger
On the surface, it looked like a glamorous 18th birthday bash, bright lights, bold fashion, and a buzzing Hollywood venue. But behind the sparkle, Zaya Wade's big night held a powerful secret.
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With just a $20 entry ticket, guests weren't only stepping into a party, they were stepping into a movement. Just days before Pride Month, Zaya, alongside her father Dwyane Wade, revealed something far bigger than a celebration. This wasn't just a birthday. It was a mission disguised in glitter and grace.
Zaya Wade and Dwyane Wade turn a birthday into a moment of support
The event was called The Venus Ascension Ball. It happened just two days before Pride Month started. The location was NeueHouse in Hollywood, California.
Zaya planned the night with a clear goal. Tickets cost $20, and every dollar went to Translatable, a platform she created in 2023 with her dad, Dwyane Wade.
Translatable is a digital space that supports LGBTQ+ youth. It offers tools, education, and personal stories. It helps young people feel seen and gives families guidance to support them.
Many people came to the ball. Dwyane Wade was there. So was his wife, actress
, and their daughter, Kaavia Wade.
The family showed love and support the whole night.
Big brands also helped out. MAC Cosmetics gave $100,000 to the Trans Wellness Center in Zaya's honor. Other sponsors included H&M, the Utah Jazz, and Folx Health.
The Trans Wellness Center, run by Marian Marroquin, was the nonprofit partner. It helps trans people in Los Angeles with health care, housing, and education.
The party wasn't just about raising money. It was a true ball.
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Guests dressed up. There were runway contests with $15,000 in cash prizes. Zaya wore a strapless beaded gown, then changed into a short lace dress. Her cake showed The Birth of Venus, a painting about beauty and new life.
Zaya later said, 'It was indescribable. Imagine an explosion of love and light wrapped up into one magical night.'
Zaya and Dwyane Wade speak from the heart about their bond
Zaya's family has supported her from the start. She came out as transgender in 2020, at just 12 years old.
At the time, the Wades were living in Florida. But due to new laws against LGBTQ+ rights, they moved to California. Dwyane Wade said, 'The community wasn't here for Zaya, so the community wasn't here for us.'
In May 2024, Dwyane Wade shared a podcast where Zaya joined him as a guest. They talked about their close bond. Dwyane said people don't see how much they work together.
He also shared that they received the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award. This award supports their mission to help
LGBTQ+ youth. Dwyane explained that Translatable gives these young people a safe online place to connect. It also helps families learn how to support them.
Zaya's birthday looked like a party. But it was really about hope, love, and a strong mission.
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The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Beyond Pride Month: The rise of year-round queer spaces in India
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'One basic need I've understood even today is that people just want to meet more queer people,' says Sakshi Juneja, co-founder of the longstanding media and community platform, which was founded in 2008. 'Whether for friendship or intimacy, that's the driving force.' Since opening 13 months ago, the studio has become one of the city's few open-to-all queer drop-in zones — no entry fee, no dress code of cool. The programming is gentle and regular: film screenings, acting workshops, and short film showcases. 'Especially for younger lesbian, bisexual, trans, and non-binary folks, where money is tighter, it was important we create a space without that economic barrier,' says Sakshi. Anyone can propose a workshop or event, and the 35–40 seat studio offers itself up, no fanfare needed. 'We announce something every few Saturdays —screenings, art evenings, open mics — and it keeps us connected to the next generation of queers.' Stories with staying power Launched in 2023 by The Queer Muslim Project with support from the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, QueerFrames is one of the few dedicated creative incubators for queer storytellers across South Asia. The lab emerged from a 2022 convening in Nepal — co-hosted with the Goethe-Institut — that interrogated narrative access and artiste support in the region. 'We're not just training writers, we're building a long-term pipeline for queer storytelling,' says Rafiul Alom Rahman, founder of the project. 'The idea is to create structural change so that queer artistes aren't only visible during Pride Month, but have sustained access to resources, networks, and industry platforms.' The first cohort, focussed on short films, brought together 10 writer-directors from India for a residency in Mumbai. Since then, at least three projects have entered production; one received the Kashish Q Drishti grant. In 2024, the lab expanded to fiction features, closing with a five-day immersion at Berlin's European Film Market. Now in its third year, QueerFrames welcomes eight new participants from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (with applications open till July at in a hybrid programme that centres script development and regional solidarity. Recent recognition for alumni Zena Sagar and Ashutosh Shankar's Tara — selected for Frameline, San Francisco's LGBTQ+ film festival — suggests that this slower, behind-the-scenes work is starting to shift the landscape. Creating retreat Outside the urban grid, other initiatives are focussing less on production and more on presence. In McLeodganj, Albela House has evolved into a sanctuary in the hills — run by Dehradun native Akash Aggarwal and his partner Manish Thapa, now based in Bengaluru. The boutique stay does not operate as an explicitly queer venue, but its politics is clear. 'It's about creating access for queer people to take up space, to see themselves reflected in art, and to feel held,' says Manish. Since its inception, Albela has hosted intimate film screenings (Sheer Qorma by Faraz Arif Ansari), theatre readings, and drag performances. In 2023, the couple launched the Rainbow Mountain Festival — a three-day retreat of workshops in mental health, storytelling, movement and performance. Its second edition in April 2024 expanded to 18 sessions, all queer-led, with full-board meals and local transport included. Next, they are developing Casa Albela in Bengaluru: a space designed from the ground up to be structurally queer-affirming. 'One of the biggest issues queer organisers face is finding safe, affirming venues in cities,' says Manish. 'We wanted to build something that doesn't just tolerate queerness, but centres it.' 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In Mumbai, Vikram Phukan's promenade-style production Postcards from Colaba (started in 2022), which is usually performed from October to March, guides audiences through the city's historic lanes, weaving in stories of queer desire, displacement, and coded visibility. Adapted to Goa in 2023, the project became more than a play; it evolved into a storytelling format — part theatre, part walking tour, part quiet insistence that queer histories belong in public space. Similar ideas animate the Delhi Queer Heritage Walk, a collective that has been organising guided walks since 2018. These are not just tours — they are exercises in reclaiming cities. From the intimate relationships in Mughal courts to the legal erasure under British rule, these walks surface what has been forgotten or deliberately concealed. They are small, public acts of resistance. Running with purpose And in Bengaluru, resistance looks like lacing up your shoes. 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NDTV
2 days ago
- NDTV
New York Pride Parade Stares At Fund Loss As Corporate Donations Shift
New York's pride parade, the highest-profile annual US LGBTQ gathering, is ramping up efforts to raise funds from individual community members with corporate donations on the wane as Washington demonizes diversity. Following President Donald Trump's attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion policies in both government and the private sector, several companies have cancelled or curtailed their sponsorships of pride parades this year. NYC Pride's spokesman Kevin Kilbride said "just about 80 percent of the fundraising goal" for the city's largest pride parade group had been met. The parade itself will be held on June 29, and according to organizers could draw as many as two million attendees. "That gap we're trying to fill with a community fundraising campaign. So in the middle of May, we launched a peer-to-peer campaign so folks can start their own fundraiser online, share it with their friends, and then have folks donate to that," he said. The group was "wanting to lean a little bit more into individual giving and support from the community," he said. The organization behind the annual parade as well as several other community projects said it raised "nearly $25,000 from almost 200 donors" in a matter of days. In years past, flamboyant floats sponsored by large corporations have paraded down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue alongside those organized by community groups. And while many will still participate, some have quietly cut back their commitments. Muneer Panjwani, who runs Engage for Good, said "there's been a massive pullback over the last year, specifically in corporations that have long supported pride events that have decided not to support anyone." Panjwani's organization connects companies to non-profits, and reports on the sums raised from "checkout giving" -- where consumers are given the option of donating while paying for goods in a store. "While companies are pulling away their philanthropic dollars at the top level, from the bottom up, consumers are saying, 'we still care about this issue,'" he said. 'People demanding their rights' One of the most prominent brands that reportedly stepped back from its previously high-profile involvement with pride was discount department store Target. For a time, Target was reportedly asking to forego publicity and donate to New York Pride silently, but has now reinstated its float at the parade, according to Kilbride. The retailer has come under fire and seen its share price dip after a boycott was organized online in response to it curtailing diversity programs, citing "the evolving external landscape." "We will continue to mark Pride Month... (by) sponsoring local events in neighborhoods across the country," a Target spokesman told AFP. At Brooklyn's annual pride parade, progressive Democratic city councilman Chi Osse told AFP that "pride started grassroots through community, and corporations bowing the knee at a president who thinks he's a king just shows us who they are to us." Brooklyn's pride event is a smaller affair and has long been seen as a more radical gathering than its Manhattan sibling -- albeit with a handful of its own corporate participants. One of those leading the twilight parade's Sirens Women's Motorcycle Club contingent, Anya Glowa-Kollisch, said "it's great when companies are willing to say that they support equal rights." "But I think at the end of the day, it's a movement that's driven by people demanding their rights, and a lot of corporations just kind of do this because they think they should," they said. "So it's really valuable to have people in the community coming out and showing that this is who we are." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Why is Trump administration shutting down LGBTQ youth suicide hotline? What we know
The Trump administration is set to shut down the national LGBTQ youth suicide lifeline soon, NBC News reported. On Tuesday, June 17, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will not use its LGBTQ youth services any longer. The youth services, also known as the 'Press 3 option,' will no longer be used effective July 17. The agency said that it will "no longer silo LGB+ youth services' to 'focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option." The "T" representing the trans community in the initialism will be removed. The Press 3 option was first rolled out in 2022 as a pilot program in a government contract with the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ people. Anyone in distress could call 988, following which they would be given the option to 'press 3' to connect with counselors who were trained to help people up to the age of 25. Initially, the Trevor Project was the only provider of the youth-specialized service. However, now it is one of seven centers that make up the LGBTQ Youth Subnetwork. The project came about under legislation that President Donald Trump signed during his first term. It acknowledged that there was a disproportionately high suicide rates among LGBTQ youths. SAMHSA said that young people who are affected can still get assistance, but from the general hotline number. 'Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help,' the agency said. Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black referred to the new move as 'devastating,' adding, 'Suicide prevention is about people, not politics.' He noted that the program helped over 1.3 million young LGBTQ people with lifesaving services. 'The administration's decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible. The fact that this news comes to us halfway through Pride Month is callous — as is the administration's choice to remove the 'T' from the acronym 'LGBTQ+' in their announcement. Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased," Black said in a statement. Black urged Congress to reserve the decision, assuring the public that the Trevor Project will continue to assist those who need help. 'I want every LGBTQ+ young person to know that you are worthy, you are loved, and you belong — despite this heartbreaking news. The Trevor Project's crisis counselors are here for you 24/7, just as we always have been, to help you navigate anything you might be feeling right now,' Black said. This month, the Department of Health and Human Services' proposed budget for 2026 removed the hotline;s youth-specialized services program. Talking about the proposed cut, Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said that the proposed budget wouldn't 'grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by 'counselors' without consent or knowledge of their parents.'
