NBA player Reggie Bullock recently spoke about his transgender sister Mia Henderson in a new interview.

Bullock, who plays for the Detroit Pistons, found a new calling for himself following the 2014 murder of Henderson. Since that tragic act of violence, Bullock has taken it upon himself to become an ally for the LGBTI community.

Part of this journey, however, has involved making mistakes and learning from them.

While speaking with Advocates for Youth in their video series Kikis with Louie, he brought up the tattoo he got in honor of his sister.

That tattoo he got consisted of two words — ‘LGBTQ’ and his sister’s name. Unfortunately, the name he got tattooed for his sister was the one before her transition.

‘I wasn’t educated enough ― that’s pretty much dead-naming her,’ he said in the video.

Deadnaming is the use of a tran’s person name pre-transition, rather than using their true name. It is an extremely offensive act to the transgender community.

He continued: ‘This was the person I thought I knew and the life she lived when it actually wasn’t. She wanted to be recognized as Mia Henderson, which was her street name that she picked up, and that was the real life that she was living.’

Bullock told Louie Ortiz-Fonseca that once he realized his mistake, he rectified it with a second tattoo.

Using his voice for good

In talking about his sister, he spoke of her life and passions: ‘She loved dance, she loved fashion … very loud when she’d get in arguments, but she was a backbone of support. She was just a power source to the community.’

Since his sister’s death, Bullock has used his voice not only to keep the memory of Henderson alive, but to champion the LGBTI community.

In April 2018, he spoke about wanting to play in a rainbow colored jersey to represent the community in professional sports.

This week, he also spoke out against a Senate Bill in South Dakota.

All athletes should have the same access to the sport they love. I call on South Dakota lawmakers to join me in standing for equality and against #SB49. #HiFromSD #ProtectTransStudents @AthleteAlly — Reggie Bullock (@ReggieBullock35) January 16, 2019

Should the bill become law, trans student athletes would be prohibited from playing on teams that align with their gender identity.

See also

Soccer star kicked out of teams across Cameroon because she is a lesbian

Trans football player wins discrimination lawsuit in Minnesota

Martina Navratilova tweets (and then deletes) rant about trans athletes