RIP Heklina, legendary San Francisco drag queen
pic.twitter.com/UoyC4wDYHVIn her post, a heartbroken Peaches Christ writes the following: “I know this is shocking news and I am beyond stunned, but I wanted to let folks know what happened.
Heklina is not just my best friend, but a beloved icon of our community.”“I am a mess,” Peaches continues. “Given this crisis, please do not try to contact me as I am utterly heartbroken, stunned, and focusing on what needs to get done next.
I shall be in touch.”A post shared by Drag Queen Extraordinaire (@heklina)Heklina—named after the volcano Hekla in her mother’s native Iceland—was a longtime drag performer who rose to fame in the 1990s and had become a staple of the LGBTQ+ scene in San Francisco.She was a co-founder of the legendary punk-drag show Mother, which began in 1996 under the name Tr*nnyshack at The Stud bar, and hosted an annual Miss Tr*nnyshack Pageant, said to be the premiere San Francisco drag event.In 2014, she co-founded the drag and cabaret club The Oasis in Francisco’s SoMa District.Over the years, Heklina also made a number of film and television appearances, and worked with notable entertainers like comedian Margaret Cho and Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Gos.
