Meet the sisters

Behind the Makeup

Sister Petty Davis

Sister Petty Davis was called to the veil in 2017 after helping the Derby City Sisters with a drag brunch and thinking, “These are my kind of freaks!”  She took the name Petty Davis in honor of the big shouldered broads of Old Hollywood, the sort of women who were told they had to be a certain way, did what they wanted anyway, and looked fabulous while doing it.  Becoming a Sister transformed her life when she realized that in order to fulfill her vows to spread joy, she needed first to find joy.  That set her on a path to acknowledge the joy in her own life daily, no matter how insignificant it may seem.  Try it…it will change your life too.  #DailyJoy

Her ministry is primarily fundraising with a particular interest in queer youth and those who are food insecure.  If you see her out and about in Louisville (she’s the tall one with all the feathers…you can’t miss her), she would LOVE to talk with you about routine STI testing.  She currently serves as Abbess of the Derby City Sisters, which is sort of a combination of president, auntie, and cat herder for her beloved cohorts.  In her secular life, she is an attorney and dog dad who loves tacos, social justice, bad crafting, boys with beards, sequins, and Cher.  Pronouns are she/her as a Sister, and he/him in secular life, but she will answer to any of them as long as you respect everyone else’s.

Guard Ian of the Faithful

My first time meeting a Sister would have been in 1987 while in San Francisco. My next meeting happened somewhere in the early 2000’s in Tampa. This time I actually spent a good amount of time speaking with them. I received the Joy of the Ministry.

I attended the first meeting that was held here in January of 2014 to gauge the community’s interest in forming a House. I knew instantly that I wanted to participate. I was having a bit of a midlife crisis and was ready to try something new.

Through being a guard with DCS, I have grown immensely. The process gives you the opportunity to reassess your place in your universe. I have chosen to participate in things that I would not have the opportunity to otherwise. My understanding of those around me has increased. I choose to learn about other’s experiences and selves.

I have no singular best experience in ministry. It has always been easy for folks to open up and share with me. As Guard Ian, I have the opportunity to focus that talent on helping the community. Folks regularly choose to interact with me and share the things that they most need to hear themselves say and the things that they most need to express and let go of in their lives. It is my greatest Joy to take those things on and relieve their burden.

Sister Begonia Thots

..and the thots were gone.

Devlyn Side

I heard about the Sister’s around 2016, through word of mouth. Then met some at Pride that year or the year after. Then I met some at a rally in 2017 I think. Still didn’t know much about them. My kids had their picture taken with Sister Slut Muffin. A year or so later I met Slut Muffin socially out of face and after talking for awhile realized they were a Sister…probably not “awhile”, because she LOVES to talk about the Sisters! I was starting my transition at this point, so early 2018? Sounds about right…The story of my transition is a long one, and it’s more like I was starting to transition again/with a greater understanding of who I was..anyway, I’m kind of a lot and I’m trying to keep this simple. Not an easy task…

..Indeed it proved to not be an easy task. (read more)

So I thought the Sister’s would be a great place for me to explore my feminine express, wearing pretty clothes, and return to doing community work which I hadn’t been engaged in for some time.

That idea simmered on the back burner for a little while longer and then I met Catty Cumback (now with the Kentucky Fried Sisters) and it helped me get my ass into gear and make the plunge! It took a little more to get me motivated back then. Since I’ve started estrogen…LOOK OUT!! Ha Ha!

Thus began my journey with the Sister’s! Catty convinced me to go to Bingo (a funny story in and of itself) which was of course a HOOT! Everyone was just so joyous and loving and fierce, I think seeing how much fun everyone was having I wanted to play too!

My first event as an aspirant was Drag Queen Story at the Library, 2019. I got there before the sisters were there and wasn’t sure what I was doing. There wasn’t any clear leadership, or at least I didn’t know who the leaders were, you know, no disrespect to who was there as a leader in the community, and we’re surrounded by these protestors from the radical christian right, so far right they came back around and got twisted round themselves like a pretzel. They’ve got megaphones, they’re being noisy, and all of a sudden I hear this sound. Not quite music, but musical, coming down the side street. I look that way and see this large group of sister’s coming, flags waving, playing kazoo’s, I think it was Baby Shark, and it was not quite unlike Gandalf and Riders Of Rohan coming over the ridge at dawn on the third day to join the Battle of Helm’s Deep. It was The Moment for me, I think. That was also the day I bounded with Sister Tonka Bell and Sister Petty Davis, probably talked to some others can’t remember, so I hate to leave anyone out, but you know, you just click with some people because they are also sluts and/or bitches and/or lushes…ya;ll can figure out which one you are…

I quickly grew to see that the Sister’s existed in a very special, magical place for me in the Zeitgeist…or the Noosphere…It’s a space that combines spirituality, activism, irreverence, joy, performance, education, liberation, and radicalism that goes back to the punks, the Radical Fairies, the Situationists, the Avant Garde, Guerilla Theatre, Drag as a form of Guerilla Theatre but deserving it’s own plan in the pantheon, I think, the Dadaists, all the way back to the Comedia del Arte, all core influences on me. All ideologies and practices I have strived to find a place in my life since I was in my 20’s. And while it isn’t often as obvious, the Sister’s from Day one have mixed the sacred and the profane, and acted in a way that has create safe spaces for others and offered blessing, nurturance, and absolution.

As I said, I joined the sisters in the nascent days of my transition and it’s hard to separate the two. As I;ve grown along each Axis separately they have strengthened each other and brought me to where I am today.

I think I’ll concluded with my favorite memory as a Sister, which summarizes so many of those things into one event. Louisville Pride 2019 Guard Wolfie had come up with this brilliant plan to confront the zealots that show up at these things without having to address them. He created a great banner that we placed in front of the protestors to block them from sight, at least, and we invited the public to come and sign their name on the banner. We were reinforcing the barrier with Love not only from us but front he entire community. It was an honor and a joy to stang in that liminal space between the Angry Christians and the Celebratory Queer, betwewn my own past in the Conservative Christian Church and my present as an Out, Proud, Empowered Queer Trans Person, between my Aspirations to Manifest my Passion and Conviction and Creativity in the world and be able to share that with others, even if it mean confronting them and shaking them up at the same time.

Cause remember, that’s Sister Devlin Syde’s whole ration d’etere. Satan’s glamorous anarchist, using ideas to destroy old ideas to make way for new ideas. Get the idea?

Sister Annele Lingus

When & how did you first meet the sisters.

I was at Pride Bar and Velveeta and I walked to find cigarettes for me. Liquor store didn’t have any, so we went around the corner to the gas station. Velveeta is tall, and was wearing some kind of platform shoes. Those boys didn’t know what to do!

What inspired you to become a sister

One day I realized that despite all of the volunteering I have ever done, I have never volunteered for the LGBTQIA+ family. Putting on a dress sounded like a good way to start.

What impact has being a sister had in your life

I am a much happier person. I have found that despite my previous shyness, I can, and will, speak to anyone.

What is your favorite experience while doing ministry in habit

I was at Kentuckiana Pride, my first as a Sister. I went walking around the far edges of Pride and found a young guy having a horrible time. It was his first Pride too. I went and grabbed Sister Sweet Epiphany. A few shakes of Sweetie’s gigantic balloon breasts and the guy started to smile. He hung out with us all for a few. When he went back to his friends, he had the biggest smile on his face!