Following a march taking place in London to protest the apparent police bias that has held up the investigation into the 2023 death of SF drag legend Heklina, a similar march and vigil, with two "angry drag shows," will be happening here in SF.

A previously announced "Justice For Heklina" march happening Monday, March 31 in London, to protest the London Metropolitan Police Department's seeming negligence and bias in their investigation of the suspicious, untimely death of Heklina in April 2023, will coincide that same day with a march and vigil here in San Francisco.

Police in London have slow-walked their investigation, says Heklina's longtime friend and collaborator Peaches Christ, who found her friend dead in the flat they were sharing while getting ready to perform there. As we learned in January, the London Metro Police have had CCTV footage of three men leaving the flat around the time Heklina would have died, and it took them nearly two years to release it seeking the public's help identifying them.

Heklina was found, Peaches said, in a "compromising position" after an online sexual encounter in the apartment, and there were drugs present in the room, which she believes led police to de-prioritize the case. While foul play was not necessarily suspected, the suspects abandoned Heklina and the circumstances of her death remain unclear.

The Chronicle reports today that a medical examiner found a "lethal amount" of drugs in Heklina's system — and Peaches elaborates on the "haunting" image of coming upon her friend, "dressed in drag, on her knees with her face on the floor and her hands on either side of her head." She adds that Heklina had a history of relapsing on drugs and alcohol when traveling, and these relapses would be accompanied by sexual binges.

Peaches further says that it would be strange for Heklina to be entertaining a group of three men, and that she preferred to line up her tricks back to back. And, she says of the three men, "I am not convinced that they didn’t have something to do with it."

A London detective reportedly told Heklina's friend and executor, Nancy French, that there likely was "investigative bias" in the case, and he apologized for how long this has taken. A new investigator was put on the case, as the Chronicle reports, and a team of five from the London Metro Police traveled to San Francisco and Palm Springs to interview Peaches and French last week.

The BBC subsequently picked up the story, as this case follows several others in the last decade in which the London police have ignored or neglected cases involving LGBTQ+ victims. And in one high-profile case of a gay serial killer who was meeting young men on an app in 2014 and 2015, the police interviewed the killer multiple times and let him free, leading to the deaths of more men.

"I hate being the person who incorrectly would cry 'homophobia' if it's not homophobia. They have left me no choice," said Peaches Christ, whose birth name is Joshua Grannell, in the BBC broadcast.

While the London protest will begin in the morning on Monday, gathering in front of Parliament, the San Francisco protest will begin later in the day, with folks gathering at The Stud between 5 and 7 pm Pacific Time. There will be a 6:30 pm drag show there, according to a Facebook post, and a candlelight vigil and silent march up Folsom Street to Oasis is set to begin at 7:30 pm.

The march will double as a protest against the Trump administration's rhetoric against and treatment of LGBTQ people, and the "new world order."

"Bring signs & placards highlighting London MET Police & Trump administration abuses of power, as well as their institutionalized homophobia and transphobia. Also ones celebrating the life and accomplishments of Heklina are very welcome as well," the post reads.

A drag show at Oasis will follow at 9 pm, and the after-party will be at the weekly Pillows party at Powerhouse. Scheduled to perform during the evening are Crickett Bardot, Falsetta Knockers, Laundra Tyme, Lindsay Slowhands, Mocha Fapalatte, Raya Light, Stanley Frank Sensation, Suppositori Spelling, and others to be announced.

Peaches Christ will not be in attendance, as she will be in London for that protest, along with Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters fame, and London drag queen Cheddar Gorgeous.

Peaches tells the Chronicle, regardless of the outcome of the case or the London police's recent activity, "it does not take away the fact that we were mistreated, mishandled, ignored."

This post has been updated with new details of the case from the Chronicle's report.