Gender Illusionist

Gender illusionist is a term for a performer, often a drag queen or drag king, who creates a persuasive impression of a gender different from their own through makeup, costume, movement, and stagecraft. It sits alongside older terms like female impersonator and male impersonator, and some performers prefer it because it emphasizes the artistry and craft of the illusion rather than simply imitating a gender. The word appears in drag and pageant culture, where titles and categories sometimes use it. Like other drag language, it describes a form of performance and entertainment. It is not a gender identity, and doing drag says nothing on its own about a performer's own gender or sexual orientation.