‘Thousands will miss you’: Fans mourn well-known San Francisco drag performer Heklina

The well-known San Francisco drag performer Heklina has died in London, according to a social media posting from a fellow performer.

Heklina was expected to start a performance next week with friend and fellow drag star Peaches Christ at the Soho Theatre. Their “Mommie Queerest” show was to start April 12 and run through April 28.

In a post on Facebook, Peaches Christ said she went to meet Heklina on Monday morning but found the performer dead of unknown causes.

“I am shocked and horrified to bring this news to you,” Peaches Christ wrote. “Heklina is not just my best friend, but a beloved icon of our community.”

Heklina, the stage name of Stefan Grygelko, co-founded a popular San Francisco drag show called “Trannyshack” in the mid-1990s, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper called the show, later rebranded as “Mother,” “one of the most experimental, artistically daring drag venues in the Bay Area.” The show “known for its post-Punk, defiant aesthetic later influenced much of the local drag that came after it.”

In recent years, Heklina also played Dorothy in a parody of “The Golden Girls” that ran during the holidays and hosted the podcast “Drag Time With Heklina.”

On Monday, as news of her reported death spread, Heklina’s fans went to social media to mourn and celebrate her life.

“I will miss you, thousands will miss you,” one person wrote on Heklina’s last Instagram post. “The memories we have and laughter we were given by you are the most treasured gifts. Thank you for being so good to our community, Heklina.”