"So, being 25, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and find out where it's headed so I'm just trying to experience new things and figure out what path I need to take," says Justin Jedlica as he prepares for the fifth annual Independent Weekly Queen of the Triangle Drag Pageant at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh.

Jedlica, who works under the name Jezebelle while performing as a female impersonator, won the first pageant about the same time he started dressing in drag at age 20. He was the host and performed at this year's pageant.

Jedlica, who runs his own small faux-painting business and does female impersonation part time, says he enjoys the creativity and performance involved in female impersonation but he also feels an even bigger responsibility to challenge society's views of gender, beauty and sexual orientation.

"I like making people think and so I end up with a lot of different reactions from people, and typically, they haven't been negative. I don't invade anybody's space, but I do like to make people take note of why they're reacting a certain way to me. I hope that I can expand some minds like that, but I know it sounds like a bigger job than I can probably do, but I hope that it makes people sit back and rethink what society teaches us," Jedlica says as the transformation takes place in his Cary home.