Faux queen

A female queen, AFAB queen, bio queen, diva queen, faux queen or hyper queen is a drag queen who identifies as a cisgender woman or as a nonbinary person who was assigned female at birth ("AFAB"). These performers are generally indistinguishable from the more common cisgender male or transgender (MTF) drag queens in artistic style and techniques.

While all these terms are used both by performers and in the media, many are considered offensive. The term "faux queen" is rejected and considered outdated by many drag artists for implying that female drag queens are not as "real" as cisgender male drag queens, and the terms "bio queen" and "female queen" are considered by many performers to be transphobic as they imply that a transgender (MTF) woman who performs as a drag queen is not female. Other descriptions include "biologically challenged" drag queen, "female female impersonator", or "female impersonator impersonator." All of these terms are generally considered acceptable only when used by the performer themselves, and many drag queens reject all terms that define them by their sex.

Concept

Like all drag performers, female drag queens play with traditional gender roles and gender norms to educate and entertain. AFAB queens can appear alongside drag kings or drag queens at drag shows and are interchangeable with other drag queens as emcees, performers, hostesses, and spokesmodels.

For some it can be a way to redefine postmodern feminism; AFAB queen Ms. Lucia Love stated, "Drag queens would be nowhere without women." For others it simply is about dressing up and having fun.

In San Francisco, the first ever "Faux Queen" pageant was produced as a benefit for the drag performer Diet Popstitute the first title-holder was Coca Dietetica aka Laurie Bushman. The Klubstitute Kollective was formed after Diet Popstitute's 1995 death to continue to raise funds and provide a space for the performers who, at the time, were not always welcome in typical drag venues. Pageant organizer Ruby Toosday had "friends who got fired (from drag clubs) for being women...it seemed like we had definitely hit a nerve. Contestants were judged on drag, talent, and personality by a panel of judges and the winner helped "femcee" the following year. The pageants were held from 1996 to 2005. The Faux Queen Pageant was resurrected in 2012 by former title holder Bea Dazzler, and will continue to be a yearly competition in San Francisco.

The dancer and performance artist Fauxnique (Monique Jenkinson) became the first cisgender female drag queen to win a major drag pageant—competing against male or MTF drag queens—when she was crowned Miss Trannyshack 2003. From Bust Magazine: "'(drag) comes down to a sort of self-awareness, a self-consciousness about playing around with femininity,' says Fauxnique. She adds that while drag for her is primarily about performance, it's also a 'rejection of traditional oppressive forms of masculinity—and that's part of an affinity with gay men as well. I wouldn't say every faux queen is a feminist, but I would say that a part of them is in some way.'"

In the 1970s and 1980s, German-born Brazilian cisgender female queen Elke Maravilha

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