Meet the Biological Woman Who Identifies as a Drag Queen

POPSUGAR: How would you define yourself and what you do?

Fauxnique: The short answer is I'm a dancer and a choreographer, and I work in the mode of drag. My one-liner has become: I am a performing artist whose work comes from a dance background and uses drag to consider the performance of femininity as a forceful, vulnerable, and subversive act. I view drag as a dance.

PS: It's interesting how you phrase your work, because it seems that most people in the drag community would consider themselves a drag queen first who works in the mode of lip-syncing, dancing, etc. You self-identify as an artist or a dancer first, and then the medium that you choose to express yourself is through drag.

F: Yeah, I was a dancer and choreographer before I started doing drag. Although there's a way in which you could read gender as a performance, and you could say I've been doing drag my whole life — ever since I started playing dress-up as a kid.

PS: When did you start doing professional drag?

F: The first drag number that I did was in 1998, but Fauxnique has really only been around since 2003. My very first performance was at the club Trannyshack in San Francisco. I moved to San Francisco after college in 1992 for the same reason that a lot of people move there: to fly my freak flag and be an artist.

The first time I went to Trannyshack, I saw Ana Matronic [of the Scissor Sisters] perform, and I was like, "Oh, they'll actually let women come and perform here. Oh my God, I didn't know that was possible." She was amazing. For my first performance in 1998, I was actually in boy drag, and I did a gay marriage number. The gay marriage movement was already happening in San Francisco.

PS: Trannyshack is legendary in the gay community. What was their community like for you as a woman?

F: It was addicting, and it was also a really welcoming community. I feel very lucky to have come into a community that was super ready for women to be playing with them. They were the next generation of drag. It was punk; it was meant to upset the status quo. They were very into the genderf*cking movement. It was not about everyone becoming pretty ladies. It was about creating creatures. It was a place where not just gay men, but also transwomen, drag queens, women dressing in drag, transmen, and drag kings came together under one roof. That was the climate that I emerged into, and I was embraced there.

PS: Tell us about the materialization of Fauxnique.

F: Fauxnique evolved over the course of my performing drag. I was performing consistently throughout 2002 as a drag queen under a different persona. Then, my friend saw a store called Fauxnique, and gave me that name.

In 2003, my friends convinced me to do the Miss Trannyshack pageant, which is open to men and women. It was this really popular event, and about 1,000 people attend it. So I entered as Fauxnique, who was a prima ballerina refugee from "Fauxqueenistan." And I won the pageant! From then on I was [officially] Fauxnique. I made history as the first biological female to win a drag pageant. The attention, that audience, and doing Fauxnique there, really helped me to build and hone my performance.

PS: How would you describe your drag aesthetic?

F: My drag aesthetic is theatrical. I'm inspired by a lot of different things, such as high fashion. Pat McGrath is my makeup idol. She's one of my beauty dream girls. Fauxnique's aesthetic is also really fantastical. I love fairies, earth goddesses, butterflies, and mythical creatures.

PS: Who are your top beauty icons?

F: I love strong women like Annie Lennox. Right now, I am a woman who's aging in her 40s, so seeing Annie Lennox embody this gorgeous truthfulness in her face and body is amazing. I also love Tilda Swinton's otherworldliness and her chameleon-ness. And I love that she loves my friend Justin Vivian Bond, who is also another beauty icon of mine. Jerry Hall is just a beautiful, beautiful woman. Or Jane Fonda in Barbarella? There's no one more beautiful.

PS: And who inspires you in the drag community?

F: Even though I'm not as extreme, Leigh Bowery is one of my all-time favorite drag queens. He was an artist, not just a drag queen. I also adore the folks of my community like Glamamore, who is an incredible icon. Also Glamamore's daughter, Juanita Moore, is also one of my drag heroes. I owe a lot to Juanita. I was a backup dancer for her at Trannyshack, and she was one of the first people who urged me to do the pageant.

PS: What do you think about RuPaul's Drag Race?

F: I think it's fun. Ru would also fall into the category of drag queens who I really admire. Her consistency and aesthetic are impressive. [Ru is] a trailblazer, a pioneer, and someone who has given drag this place.

PS: RuPaul's Drag Race show has really stirred up the media about drag queens, though.

F: In order to make a show like that, you have to create drama. Maybe I'm "too San Francisco," but wonder, "Why does everyone have to be so mean?! Why can't we all be friends?!" [The drama] fosters this misconception that drag queens are total catty b*tches. My experience with drag queens has been the opposite. It's about being embraced, celebrated, and thoughtful.

PS: That show has also brought to the forefront a lot of controversy right now with certain words in the gay lexicon. What are your feelings about the words like "tranny" and "fish"?

F: The word "tranny" has become a big hot-button topic. It's pretty divisive, but it was a term that came from within the community that now has been branded a bad word. Transfolks who don't like the term probably feel similar to how feminists, such as myself, feel about the word "b*tch."

"Fish" is a really interesting word. We need to have a talk about who gets to use it and who doesn't. When I emerged at Trannyshack, suddenly everyone was saying "fish." And in that context, it's hilarious. But when we use it on an international scale, then anyone has access to it. And I really don't want frat boys to start using "fish." You know what I mean?

It's tough, because if none of these words ever get used, we don't get to have the conversation. I fall on the spectrum of "having the conversation."

PS: What are some great beauty tricks you've learned from this craft?

F: I use Visine instead of water for my liquid-based makeup because it's sterile, it's contained, and it dries easier. Another good trick is that I put lash glue on my hand and dip the lash in the puddle of glue. Then, I use the tail-end of a brush to help place the lash on the lash line. When you're wearing a heavy lash, your eyes can look dragged down, so flick the lash upwards at the end to lift your eye. Also, apply white eyeliner to your lower waterline to make your eyes look brighter and whiter.

PS: What are your beauty must haves as Fauxnique?

F: Lashes, lashes, and lashes. I go to a place in my neighborhood called the Wig Factory, and I get the biggest ones I can find, which cost me like $3. I recycle mine and use them a few times each. But don't get pinkeye! I clean my lashes with alcohol every time. I also like highlighter. I highlight features of my face like my jaw to make it look more pronounced and to make me look more masculine. I contour underneath my jawline to make it really sharp, then I use a really light cream highlighter along my jawline to make it look like it's jutting out like many men's jaws do.

PS: Does Fauxnique have a signature look?

F: It depends on what I'm going for. The signature feature for me is definitely these lower lashes. It's a late '60s style, and it immediately makes my face look like a drag queen. The danger for faux queens is that we're already discredited in some circles, so when you just say, "Oh, here's my crazy lipstick! Woo!" that's not enough. To be fair, if you never wear makeup, lipstick can feel extreme. But I think in order for women to look like drag queens, we have to be even more extreme or no one's going to take us seriously.

PS: So do you consider yourself a faux queen or a drag queen? Can a biological woman really be a drag queen?

F: Absolutely! I don't have a preference for being called either a drag queen or a faux queen. But here's the thing: I don't consider myself less than any male performer, and the proof is in the pudding. Call me a faux queen if you want, and then you'll see how real of a performance I do. I mean, my name is Fauxnique, so I love playing with the idea of faux. I am an artist, and that is where my drag comes from. Part of being an artist is creating artifice. It's like RuPaul says: "You're born naked and the rest is drag."

PS: How do people typically respond to what you do?

F: I definitely get people who are confused, so I tend to have to explain it a lot. Women often also ask me if drag queens think I'm stepping on their territory, and if they're b*tchy to me, which I think comes from the stereotype that RuPaul's Drag Race might be perpetuating. Once people understand what I do, I get the feeling that they assume I've stormed the gates or pulled one over on all those guys. I suppose that is a sort of a quasi-feminist read, but it couldn't be further from the truth. A lot of people have blazed trails, but I've just walked into a very open door, and I don't ever feel like I've pulled the wool over anyone's eyes. I'm not pretending that I've had an experience that I've never had. Gay men are my people, and I don't hang out with transphobes or misogynists; so the gay-friendly people I hang out with totally get what I do.

PS: What is Fauxnique's message to women?

F: Revel in your femininity and allow yourself to play. I'm not saying that everyone should be feminine, but play with your feminine side, whether you're a man or woman . . . or whoever you are.

PS: What do you think women can learn from drag queens?

F: Confidence. Something I learned from drag queens was giving it all you've got with what you've got. This actually speaks to a really deep experience of body acceptance that I had, especially as a former ballerina. I felt celebrated, adored, and accepted by drag queens. I felt loved, respected, and weirdly enough, sometimes objectified by drag queens — but that was strangely a healing objectification.

PS: How was it a healing process for you?

F: As a ballerina, I was always told to make my body smaller or more perfect. One time at Trannyshack, I was in a number with Juanita Moore. Glamamore was measuring me for my outfit and said, "Oh, I'm in love with your proportions!" If a ballet teacher had said that to me, I would've been a lot happier as a teen. Those kinds of comments were so self-affirming. They were healing. Trannyshack was a space where all shapes, sizes, and colors were accepted. Hopefully a lot of people are listening to RuPaul's number one message on Drag Race: "If you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?" That's a lesson we all need to learn.