Izaak Theo Adu has spent the last six months in Gloucestershire, UK recovering from gender confirming surgery. But when he was ready to come home, the 23 year old knew exactly who to thank: his mum, the legendary singer Sade.
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“It’s been a long hard road but We did it!! We are coming home!!!!” Izaak wrote in his Instagram post. “Thank you for staying by my side these past 6 months Mumma. Thank you for fighting with me to complete the man I am. Thank you for your encouragement when things are hard, for the love you give me. The purest heart. I love you so much. Queen of queens[.]”
Izaak, who came out as transgender in 2016 on National Coming Out Day, has been incredible open about his transition, sharing photos on Instagram and videos answering questions about his female-to-male transition on his YouTube channel IzaakTheo_Longboy.
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Many of his IG posts reflect on the challenges of being trans and the benefits of having a truly supportive community. The only child of Sade and reggae producer Bob Morgan, Izaak regularly shouts out his parents to thank them for their support.
“I am lucky because I have a family and friends that accept and love me just as I am, who see it isn’t about WHAT I look like on the outside like [sic] but WHO I am on the inside. I know not everybody has that,” he wrote in a May 2, 2019 post.
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He’s right. Transgender people are more likely to experience the worst of life’s hardships—homelessness, violence, poverty—and the levels are that much worse for trans people of color. Black trans women are murdered at much higher rates; in a 2015 U.S. Transgender report, 53% of Black respondents reported being sexually assaulted. A 2014 report found that 45% of the study’s 290 Black respondents had attempted suicide in their lifetime.
Something so seemingly simple as loving your child can really be the difference between life or death for many trans people. Seeing Izaak Theo embraced by his family and friends—as well as Gabriel Union’s stepson and Dwyane Wade and Siohvaughn Funches’ son Zion, Magic and Coco Johnson’s son E.J. Johnson, Angelica Zachary and Marlon Wayan’s daughter Amai, and Andrea and R. Kelly’s son Jay—is a welcome reminder that trans and queer kids deserve love and support.
And Izaak living his truth is a source of hope and light for those trans youth who may feel alone and in the dark.
