Republican North Carolina State Senate candidate Steve Wiles used to go by a different name — "Miss Mona Sinclair."
Wiles' past life as a drag queen and promoter for the "Miss Gay America" pageant was detailed in a report published by the Winston-Salem Journal Saturday. Business Insider spoke to Wiles, who supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in North Carolina, and he explained why he doesn't consider himself "anti gay" and why he no longer dresses in drag.
"I think that everyone has their own choices to make and I'm fine with everyone making their own. For me, from a religious standpoint, just for my life, for me, it just was not something that I wanted to continue," Wiles said of his drag performances. "Of course it was an embarrassment, but you know, you move on. You live life, and you change, and you make yourself what you want yourself to be. And that's where I am now."
Wiles declined to answer when Business Insider asked whether he considers himself an "ex-gay."
"No, no, I really wont make any comments on that," he said.
Wiles also said he believes the Winston-Salem Journal report was an attack from his opponents whom he described as "looking to take the focus off of their failures," A few hours after the story was published, Wiles published a note on his Facebook page wherein he apologized for having had an "embarrassing" job. In spite of his regrets, with the election days away, Wiles told Business Insider he has no intention of stopping his campaign.
"I mean, there's only three more days," said Wiles with a laugh.
In his Facebook post, Wiles claimed he would be "very happy to discuss" his views on gay marriage with "any of my friends in the Democrat party and gay community." He explained to Business Insider that he doesn't believe being against same-sex marriage is the same thing as being anti gay.
"I don't really understand how you can separate the fact that marriage is a religious institution," Wiles said.
The Winston Salem-Journal article reported Wiles, who is now a real estate agent, emceed a show at a since-shuttered North Carolina gay nightspot called Club Odyssey "around 2001 and 2002." Prior to that, the club's co-owner said Wiles was a regular visitor in the 1990's. The Winston Salem-Journal also noted Wiles was listed on the "Miss Gay America" site as a "former promoter of Miss Gay Eastern States America and a city preliminary promoter for Miss Gay North Carolina America" who was expelled from the organization.
"Oh I just stopped having it," Wiles said when asked why he was removed from the pageant. "I stopped promoting the event."
Business Insider asked whether his objection to the gay lifestyle was the reason he stopped promoting "Miss Gay America."
"It was. It really was," said Wiles.
Though he now views his past as a drag queen as "an embarrassment," Wiles said there were positive things he took away from the experience.
"I learned a lot of lessons, some of them, well most of them, the hard way," explained Wiles. "That's generally how I learned, but I did learn from my mistakes. That's something that I wish I could say for some of my GOP rivals."
Given his newfound knowledge, Business Insider asked Wiles if there was anything he'd say to people who are currently drag queens.
"Good for them," Wiles said. "If they're happy, good for them."
View Wiles' Facebook post below.
