Billings, a trans woman, played one of TV's first openly transgender characters in 2005 made-for-TV movie Romy and Michele: In the Beginning.

In her early adult life, Billings struggled with homelessness and cocaine and opioid addiction, and for a time participated in sex work.

[6] In the early 1980s, Billings worked under the stage name Shanté at the famed Baton Show Lounge in Chicago, Illinois,[7] where she impersonated Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, and Liza Minnelli.

She has collaborated on plays with such notable authors as Larry Kramer, Tina Landau, and Jamie Pachino.

She performed in a pair of Billy Bermingham-written satirical farces at the Torso Theatre during the 1990s titled Shannen Doherty Shoots a Porno: A Shockumentary and Cannibal Cheerleaders on Crack, starring in the latter.

[12] In September 2019, it was announced that Billings would play the role of Madame Morrible in the Broadway musical Wicked.

[14] Billings resumed performing the role of Morrible when Wicked reopened on Broadway in September of 2021, and stayed in the show until January 30, 2022.

She has also played transgender characters in episodes of Karen Sisco, ER, Eli Stone and Grey's Anatomy.

[24] She had a recurring role as Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer in the 2022 Amazon Prime Video science fiction series The Peripheral.

When accepting the award on behalf of the cast, Billings urged the audience to talk to people who disagree with their beliefs in order to spark conversation and create change instead of staying complacent.

[29] Billings lives in Hollywood, California, with her wife Chrisanne, whom she initially met at age fourteen in drama class.

When talking about her fight to battle AIDS, she says that she believes the reason she has survived all these years is due to her wife's support.