An anti-gay Republican candidate in North Carolina worked as a drag queen performer and emcee known as ‘Miss Mona Sinclair,’ according to a bombshell report.

Steve Wiles, a conservative North Carolina state Senate candidate who has been outspoken in his support of the state’s same-sex marriage ban, worked as a female impersonator and drag-show emcee earlier in his life, the Winston-Salem Journal reported over the weekend.

Wiles, 34, worked at a gay-friendly Winston-Salem lounge called Club Odyssey from 2002 to 2010, where he directed a weekly drag show, the club’s former owner Randy Duggins told the Journal.
Prior to his directorial debut, Wiles had been a frequent attendee at the weekly soirée which featured men dressed as women. He later starred as the show’s emcee under the stage name, ‘Miss Mona Sinclair,’ Duggins said.

Wiles, who has campaigned primarily on his support of the state’s ban on gay marriage, confirmed to Business Insider that he used to perform as “Miss Mona Sinclair” at the now-defunct bar but later decided that the role “just was not something that I wanted to continue.”

“I think that everyone has their own choices to make and I’m fine with everyone making their own,” he said. “For me, from a religious standpoint, just for my life, for me, it just was not something that I wanted to continue.”

He has previously denied his affiliation with the club.
When Business Insider asked if he was gay, Wiles responded, “no, I really won’t make any comments on that.”
Wiles also worked as a promoter for the 2011 Miss Gay America pageant, but was dismissed for “conduct unbecoming to” the organization, according to the Journal.

Wiles, who now works as a real estate agent, is competing against two other GOP candidates in a competitive primary scheduled for May 6.

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