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Drag kings explain how shows differ from drag queens’

The Chicago Drag Kings performing “Fischerspooner – Emerge”

Risk Mentors: Bridging Self-Worth and Success | Sile Singleton

“It’s a risk, being me.” Growing up queer, transmasculine, and Black in small-town, Appalachian Ohio, Sile (pron. “Sheila”) P. Singleton was nurtured by a family of Baptist and A.M.E. preachers and mentored by her risk-taking great-grandmother, Florence E. F. Adams (“Big Momma”). A Christian, LGBTQ activist, and gender performer and promoter, Sile shares hiz secrets for survival. Co-founder of the critically-acclaimed drag king troupe H.I.S. Kings and the International Drag King Extravaganza (I.D.K.E.), Sile works to create justice in a world that marginalizes LGBTQ individuals and others the world sees as different. A gifted storyteller, Singleton crafts hir life and challenges to self-worth into a powerful message of survival and a legacy of personal and communal transformation.

For the past 30 years Sile is an accomplished gender performer best known for her gender bending portrayals of the sassy Lustivious Dela Virgion and the savvy Luster Dela V. She is the co-founder and visionary of 1990’s nationally and internationally acclaimed drag king troupe, H.I.S. KINGS and IDKE (The International Drag King Extravaganza). Ms. Singleton is featured in several documentary films; most notable Discovery Health’s “Drag Kings on Tour” (Atlantis 2004) and 2016’s break out documentary “Kings, Queens and In-Betweens (Five Sisters Productions, 2016). For 8+ years she toured with her one person play, “PAINT! A Transformative Project” and with a multi-generational production titled “THE LOVE IN(side) Faith & Positive Perceptions of Self”; a show that merges traditional cross-dressing & drag performance with pop, urban & gospel music, spoken word and God’s blessings.