A'Keria Chanel Davenport (born March 1, 1988) is the stage name of Gregory D'Wayne, an American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

best known for competing on the eleventh season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'' (2019) and the sixth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...

'' (2021). As a professional entertainer, she has won several national titles in drag pageantry systems, including Miss Black Universe in 2017. Davenport was recognized by ''

Dallas Voice ''Dallas Voice'' is a weekly LGBT newspaper based in Dallas, Texas. Established on May 11, 1984, it was the first newspaper in Dallas created specifically to serve the LGBTQ+ community. Owned by Voice Publishing Company, Inc., the newspaper publ ...

'' as a Texan of the Year in 2019.

Career

2011–2018: Drag beginnings

Davenport started participating in drag pageants since 2011. Some of her titles include Miss Unity of America Newcomer 2011, Miss Wessland Newcomer 2012, Miss Diamond of the South Newcomer 2012, Miss International Vogue 2017, and Miss Black Universe 2017.

2019–present: ''RuPaul's Drag Race''

A'Keria was announced to be one of fifteen contestants competing on season eleven of ''

'' on January 24, 2019. In episode three, she was involved in the show's first ever six-way

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

with

Honey Davenport James Heath-Clark (born August 13, 1985), known professionally as Honey Davenport, is an American drag queen, drag performer, singer, songwriter, actor and activist. Davenport was a longtime fixture of the New York City nightlife scene and cam ...

Ra'Jah O'Hara Benni Miller (born Bennie Roy Miller; December 31, 1984), better known by the stage name Ra'Jah O'Hara, is an American drag queen best known for winning the first season of '' Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World.'' She previously competed on ...

, Plastique Tiara,

Scarlet Envy Scarlet Envy (born February 26, 1992), is the stage name of Jacob James Grady, an American drag queen, reality television personality, singer, and performer who is best known for competing on the RuPaul's Drag Race season 11, eleventh season of '' ...

, and

Shuga Cain Shuga Cain is the stage name of Jesus Martinez Jr. (born November 20, 1977), an American drag queen and baker who came to international attention on the eleventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Early life Martinez was born in Oakland, Calif ...

, which she survived. She later lip synced again with Ra'Jah to

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series ''The Big Time (TV series), The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to gain a ...

's "

Strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...

" in episode seven. She won two main challenges, in episodes

six 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

and

nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

. She placed 3rd/4th alongside

Silky Nutmeg Ganache Silky Nutmeg Ganache (born December 31, 1990) is an American drag queen, drag performer most known for competing on the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11), eleventh season (2019) of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and on the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (se ...

after losing a lip sync against

Yvie Oddly Jovan Jordan Bridges (born August 22, 1993), known by the stage name Yvie Oddly, is an American drag queen, performer, fashion designer, rapper, and recording artist from Denver, Colorado who came to international attention in 2019 when she won t ...

, who would eventually win the season against

Brooke Lynn Hytes Brooke Lynn Hytes is the stage name of Brock Edward Hayhoe (born March 10, 1986), a Canadian-American drag queen, ballet dancer, and television personality. After working as a dancer with Cape Town City Ballet and Les Ballets Trockadero de Mont ...

. From March 26 to September 6, she was a part of the rotating cast for ''RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 11 Tour'', presented by Voss Events and World of Wonder, and hosted by

Asia O'Hara Antwan Mason Lee (born July 7, 1982), better known by the stage name Asia O'Hara, is an American drag queen, reality television personality, and costume designer. She is most well known for competing on the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

. The show kicked off in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on May 26 during the

RuPaul's DragCon LA RuPaul's DragCon LA is an annual Trade fair, expo of Drag (clothing), drag culture held in Los Angeles billed as a "convention that celebrates 'the art of drag, queer culture and self-expression for all'", which debuted in 2015. Its sister even ...

wrap party (hosted by Drag Race judge Michelle Visage) and concluded with a final bow on September 6 in New York City (also hosted by Visage) at the top of

RuPaul’s DragCon NYC RuPaul's DragCon NYC is an annual fan convention and expo of drag culture held in New York City, which debuted in September 2017. It is based on the successful RuPaul's DragCon LA which was launched in Los Angeles in 2015 billed as a “conventi ...

. A'Keria was in a music video for

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

's "

Juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...

" on April 17, 2019. She portrayed

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

in the music video for

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's "

You Need to Calm Down "You Need to Calm Down" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her seventh studio album, ''Lover'' (2019). Republic Records released it for download and streaming on June 14, 2019. Written and produc ...

" on June 17, 2019. On August 26, 2019, Davenport performed alongside Taylor Swift during her

2019 MTV Video Music Awards The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 26, 2019, at the Prudential Center in Newark, being the first VMA ceremony to be held in New Jersey. Sebastian Maniscalco hosted the 36th annual ceremony. Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Bil ...

performance. In April 2020, amid the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Davenport was announced as a featured cast member for the very first '' Digital Drag Fest'', an online drag festival for all ages, with attendees given opportunities to interact with the artists, tip them, and win prizes during the broadcast. On May 26, 2021, it was revealed that A'Keria would be competing in

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 6 The sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' premiered on June 24 and concluded on September 2, 2021. The first two episodes of the season aired on the same day. On August 20, 2020, VH1 renewed both ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and ''All Stars ...

along with 12 other contestants, including fellow Season 11 contestants

, and

. After landing in the bottom on episodes 3 and 4, she was later sent home by

Kylie Sonique Love Kylie Sonique Love (born May 2, 1983), formerly known as Sonique, is an American entertainer, singer, dancer, model and reality television personality. She rose to prominence as a contestant on the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in 2009 ...

on the 6th episode “''Rumerican Horror Story: Coven Girls''” (a parody of ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...

'') after placing in the bottom with fellow season 11 contestant Ra’Jah O’Hara. In August 2021, they were a featured performer and host in ''Klub Kids London Presents: NOIR: The Tour'', where 25% of the proceeds from the production were donated to the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

movement.

Personal life

A'Keria C. Davenport is a member of the Drag Haus of Davenport, with ''Drag Race'' alum

Kennedy Davenport Reuben Asberry Jr. (born September 9, 1980), known professionally as Kennedy Davenport, is a drag queen, television personality, and dancer from Dallas, Texas, who came to international attention on the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', ...

Sahara Davenport Antoine Ashley (December 17, 1984 – October 1, 2012), better known by the name Sahara Davenport, was an American drag queen, singer, reality television personality, and classically trained dancer. Davenport was best known as a contestant on the ...

Monét X Change Monét X Change (born February 19, 1990) is the stage name of Kevin Akeem Bertin, an American and Saint Lucian drag queen, singer, podcaster, and reality television personality. She is known for competing on the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag R ...

and

. Her drag mom is Armani Nicole Davenport. D'Wayne was living in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

before being accepted on ''Drag Race''. After Drag Race, D'Wayne moved to Katy. He has stated that he plans to create a skincare line as well as start a charity that will provide support for transgender women and homosexual youth. D'Wayne spent almost a year of his life as a

woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

, until he realized he identified as a man. He opened up about this experience on the fifth episode of the sixth season of ''

'', saying: "It took me to go through that experience to not only find myself but to know who I truly was and wanted to be to know I was enough... I faced the same obstacles most trans people ( speciallythose of color) and that's why I will now and forever advocate and dedicate everything in me to protect them!" Davenport went to David W Carter High School in Wolf Creek, Texas and grew up in

Oak Cliff, Texas Oak Cliff is an area of Dallas, Texas, United States that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; established in 1887 and annexed by Dallas in 1903, Oak Cliff has retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older establ ...

Filmography

Television

Music videos

Web series

Discography

Featured singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Akeria Living people 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people African-American drag queens Drag performers from Dallas Entertainers from Houston

A'keria Davenport A'Keria Chanel Davenport (born March 1, 1988) is the stage name of Gregory D'Wayne, an American drag queen best known for competing on the eleventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' (2019) and the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars' ...

American drag queens American gay entertainers People who detransitioned LGBTQ people from Texas 1988 births