Why are male drag artistes referred to as 'she'?

[JellySlice]

Article about RuPaul's Drag Race UK https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-49498681

At one point a drag artiste's sexuality is mentioned, but at no point is anything mentioned about their gender identifications.

Are female pronouns being used because the article refers to the personas? Much like you might say "When Ada hoiks her bosom she is hilarious" or "When Les Dawson performs as Ada he is hilarious".

On the other hand, several of the artistes in the article speak about their own feelings, apparently in their own voices, therefore as males.

RuPaul is referred to as 'he', and is shown in masculine clothing. Would he be referred to as 'she' if he was photographed in drag?

I don't think it's about identity in the way people talk about it today, or at least it hasn't been in the past. It's more like the way someone like David Bowie took on a persona on stage but also under certain other circumstances.

Drag, if it's done well (often it's not IMO), is very much about exploring the nature of gender stereotypes, and making a sort of contrast between the maleness of the performer and the femininity of the persona.

For the same reason as other males that call themselves “she”, they’re pretending to be women so prounouns etc are an extension of that pretence.