Now dubbed "Heklina: A Memorial (She Would Have Hated This)," the memorial affair for the beloved drag comedienne who died earlier this month has grown into a block-wide event that will shut down Castro Street starting at noon.
I'm not sure which thing Heklina would have hated more: that thousands of people would gather to memorialize and/or lovingly mock her, or that she wasn't making any money off of it. But the event next month will indeed be a not-for-profit affair, and due to overwhelming demand, the Castro Theatre piece of the memorial will be projected on screens outside the theater, so that those who didn't snag a free ticket the other week will be able to see it too. (We're all looking at you, assholes, who grabbed eight tickets apiece and who maybe only ever saw her perform once at Beyonce Night.)
As the Bay Area Reporter tells us, the festivities will kick off at 5 p.m. on May 23 on Castro Street with an outdoor stage, and the street will be closed from noon until around midnight between Market and 18th streets.
The outdoor stage, which will feature drag tributes to Heklina from 6 to 8 p.m., will be hosted by Dulce de Leche and LOL McFiercen.
The Castro Theatre tribute event will begin at 8 p.m. and run until 10:30 p.m., with doors at 7 p.m.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman tells the BAR that he and everyone involved are "grateful to the MTA," and he said he was "glad to help apply and get the street closure."
The expanded event comes with expanded costs, and as Peaches Christ explains on Facebook today, they are seeking donations to offset those costs. "As you can imagine, this has added considerable expense including the cost of permitting, police officers, etc. and we are hoping friends and fans can help out and chip in so that we can cover expenses." A GoFundMe campaign has now raised $20,000 of a $25,000 goal.
The event will also be livestreamed online on Oasis TV.
Since we last discussed Heklina's surprising April 3 passing, multiple obituaries and eulogies have appeared online, including this great one by Adriana Roberts, and this one by the Chronicle's Tony Bravo.
Also, California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who represents Berkeley and Richmond, gave a speech about Heklina and her nights attending Trannyshack at The Stud two decades ago, discussing the value of safe spaces for "queer misfits" as an adjournment to the Assembly two weeks ago.
Previously: Drag Community Mourns the Loss of Legendary San Francisco Queen Heklina