Club owner: State Senate candidate against gay marriage was a drag queen
If you're a candidate for state senate in a conservative district and have a skeleton in the closet, make sure that skeleton's not a drag queen named Miss Mona Sinclair.
Randy Duggins, co-owner of the now-closed Club Odyssey in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a former club employee both told the Winston-Salem Journal that Steve Wiles, now competing in a Republican primary in North Carolina's Senate District 31, worked at the gay club as a female impersonator for a few years in the early 2000s. Before becoming Miss Mona Sinclair, he was a frequent patron of the club. "I recognized his picture when I was looking in the paper," Duggins said. "That's definitely him. He has aged some, but that's him. I have no ax to grind against him. I just think he's a liar."
Wiles was a vocal backer of the state's 2012 constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, the Winston-Salem Journal says, and has denied being gay. "I have already apologized to the people who matter most to me for the things I did when I was young," he said, without elaborating. Wiles has told multiple people that he was never a female impersonator, and while his opponents are not discussing publicly this new revelation, an attack ad has run on a social media website, the Winston-Salem Journal said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Correction: This article originally included a tweet with a photo showing the wrong drag queen. It has since been removed. We apologize for the error.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 23, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - qualifications, tax cuts, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Long summer days in Iceland's highlands
The Week Recommends While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner
By The Week UK Published
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?
Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
By The Week UK Published
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu
Speed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam Bondi
Speed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom ban
Speed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published