Zaya Wade & Amy Schneider open up about being trans icons

Trans youth icon Zaya Wade recently opened up about what she thinks many non-LGBTQ adults don’t understand about being part of the LGBTQ community.

“I honestly wish that a lot of adults understood and did not invalidate how confusing, uncomfortable and kind of abrupt, but also how beautiful being a part of any LGBTQ+ community is,” Wade said in an Instagram Live interview with Teen Vogue and Zach Koung, a youth ambassador for the It Gets Better Project.

Related: TV reporter had the best response to a viewer who mocked trans Jeopardy champ Amy Schneider

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“I do think there is ‘Oh you’re just going through this’ or ‘Oh it’s fine’ – there is a lot of invalidation of what you’re going through, even if they do accept you as trans.”

14-year-old Wade – the daughter of basketball star Dwyane Wade – also spoke about the pressure and privilege of representing her community as a public figure.

“The expectation for anyone who has to represent the LGBTQ+ community is a lot and there is a lot of pressure there. Having someone or a group of people really helps me see the positives, while also recognizing the negatives, and rise above them because I am me and no one is going to tell me otherwise anymore.”

Wade spoke alongside the history-making trans Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider, who spoke about the responsibility she felt while on the show “to be my best self and represent the trans community well.”

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She added, “I was also worried about that in the sense that I don’t want to present a ‘too perfect’ image of myself because I want everyone to be able to see that whether or not you are good at trivia, whether or not you have a lot of followers on social media, any of those things, you still deserve and can find the same acceptance, the same affirmation and freedom to accept who you are.”

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