Shi-Queeta-Lee, born Jerry, grew up in a small town called Renton, Virginia -- the type of town where everyone knows everyone, everyone knows everything about everyone and everyone talks about everything they know about everyone. It was also the type of town where, at least in the 1980s, it was not okay to be gay. However, his family knew he was gay and have always supported him.
A typical teenage boy, Jerry loved sports. During high school, he played football, basketball, track, tennis; he even had a girlfriend. And each spring, he was part of the cheer team. While this did cause some people to raise eyebrows and ask questions, he says no one really suspected him of being gay.
From an early age, Jerry knew that his passion in life was performing. He left Renton after high school and moved to DC to study music and commercial art at Howard University. After three years of college, though, Jerry was bored and wanted more. Eager to perform, he landed a spot on Bob Hope's USO Tour and spent four years traveling the world and entertaining the military.
After completing his USO stint, Jerry took a job singing backup for Bruce Willis at Planet Hollywood restaurant grand openings. Over the course of three years, Jerry opened 43 restaurants around the world.
It was not until his late twenties that Jerry first stumbled into the world of drag. Back in DC, Jerry was now out and playing in a gay softball league. As an annual tradition, each team in the league chose one member to represent them in the "Miss Magic Drag Pageant." As the newcomer, Jerry was enlisted to represent his team. Though traditionally this was a "camp drag" pageant ("where you still have your moustache but you put on makeup and hair and stuff like that"), Jerry decided that if he was going to be on stage, he was going to do it up right. He hired a makeup artist, purchased outfits and worked hard to perfect a song-and-dance number for the talent portion. Jerry's hard work paid off -- he won the Miss Magic Pageant. Loving how he felt performing in drag (and how easily he had made $500 in prize money), Jerry decided that he was on to something -- and the rest is history.
Shi-Queeta-Lee has been a female impersonator -- as he is very careful to label himself -- for 13 years. He says that he loves the limelight and the attention that he gets when he is on stage as Shi-Queeta. His top characters are Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston and Diana Ross. While most people think terms like "female impersonator," "transsexual" and "drag queen" are interchangeable, Shi-Queeta is quick to clarify. According to him, a female impersonator is someone who impersonates an icon or actress to create an illusion on stage, typically for the purpose of turning a profit. A drag queen, on the other hand, is someone who "just likes to put on the clothes." A transsexual is a female "post-op;" someone who gets the body work done to transform from a man to a woman, a transvestite is someone who goes partway but not all the way with dressing as a woman, and a transgender is someone who is taking hormones but has not had surgery. Men at all stages in the transformation process -- or men like Shi-Queeta who have no interest in actually transforming -- may choose to perform as drag queens/female impersonators at Town or any other drag show.
One of the surprises Jerry found in his earlier drag days was the attention he received from straight men who were sexually interested in him.
"They wanted to go to bed with you, they wanted to pay for sex, they wanted to date you and it was extremely overwhelming to see how many straight guys had those fantasies and fetishes out there."
Jerry decided to take advantage of his new discovery and spent four years doing sexual favors in exchange for cash with those he met on a prostitution website.
"There are times in your life as a female impersonator that you need a fast coin and what better way to get than by prostitution," he said. "If they straight man want it, and you got it-why do something for free when you can get paid for it. I was in a serious rut at the time and I didn't have a job so I needed to make fast money. Now I've got myself together and I'm accomplishing at what I'm doing so I don't need to do that anymore. I had done what I needed to do back in the day and I'm older now, wiser, more mature so those childish games you have to put aside."
Though Jerry says he feels more confident as Shi-Queeta, he doesn't consider himself transgendered and wouldn't want to alter his body.
Typically, Shi-Queeta performs 4 days a week -- Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The other three days are left for Jerry time. Though the Jerry days are usually lazy and relaxing, they are very important because "being tucked 4-5 days a week -- and if you don't know what tucked means, that means pulling it back and holding it up to get that vagina -- you just have to release the pressure."
Though he is used to it after 13 years, Shi-Queeta still finds the drag transformation tedious and difficult. From tucking to padding, painting nails to applying eyelashes, painting on makeup to squeezing into pantyhose, the preparation is all-consuming. But, as Shi-Queeta explains, it is also a building process. While it used to take him anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half to get ready, he now has it down to a brisk 15-20 minutes. What still takes time is transforming his persona and getting into the mindset before he steps out on that stage.
If there is anything to take away from meeting Shi-Queeta-Lee, it is that drag is not just a hobby but a serious business and, for him, a career. Shi-Queeta has not only taught himself how to do makeup and nails, but also how to design and sew his own costumes. This way, he never has to wear the same outfit twice. Jerry has a room designated for Shi-Queeta in his home where he sews clothing. He makes anywhere from 8 to 10 new outfits every week.
These skills have paid off for Shi-Queeta in more ways than just on stage. Thanks to his prodigious skill with makeup and sewing, Shi-Queeta works on the side as a costume designer and makeup artist for Howard University and Studio Theater. He also sometimes works as a makeup artist at IBM for their in-house government commercials.
Shi-Queeta says that in recent years, the level of respect shown both to drag queens and to LGBT people in general has increased noticeably in the DC area. As far as respect for drag queens goes, Shi-Queeta credits RuPaul and his drag race reality show with giving the public a better understanding of how much work goes into dressing in drag. He thinks that by seeing what drag queens go through -- from the dressing to the costume design, the rehearsals to the persona -- the public has gained respect for his art.
Forever searching for new opportunities to be in the limelight, Shi-Queeta has started the wheels spinning on his next big move -- off the stage and onto the small screen. She competed on "America's Got Talent," along with cast-mates Jessica Spaulding and Banaka Deveraux and has made guest appearences on hit TV shows such as Ugly Betty and The Wire. Shi-Queeta is now hosting his own cable access talk show called "Spill the Tea with Shi-Queeta-Lee." He hopes to option the show and get it picked up by a network producer.
Shi-Queeta is also an active philanthropist and advocate for HIV/AIDS charities. He got involved in the cause after many of his friends passed away from HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. One of his friend's mothers took him aside and asked him to donate his time and energy on behalf of her deceased child, and he has been involved in the cause ever since.
Though like any true diva, Shi-Queeta is surrounded by a lot of drama, he does not let it get him down. "A lot of people don't like me. The more they hate me, the stronger I am. The reason why a lot of people don't like me or accept me here in DC is because I strive to go for what I want and I'm not afraid to go after my dream."