The Queen is putting up her heels. The notoriously lovable drag queen Heklina will end her twelve year run at Trannyshack, a gay club party held at San Francisco’s The Stud bar. Actually, I have never been. I am not a bar type, I was more a clubbing gay boy and while The Stud does offer dancing, the space is tight on the dance floor. The main impediment, however, to my attendance is that Trannyshack starts at midnight on Tuesday night. Hard to fit that into a Wall Street career.
My roommates have gone and over the years, word would filter through the ghetto that is the Castro about who made appearances at Trannyshack. Stars like Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and RuPaul among others all trekked there. Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters got her start there. Not just an event and a show, Trannyshack ran AIDS fundraisers and provided a political education to many gay boys on the lives of transexuals. Every year, the main event was the Trannyshack Beauty Pagent that became a required stop for city politicos. I remember former Mayor Willie Brown pictured there with drag queens kissing him from every side.
The closing event will be held Saturday, August 23rd at the Regency Center (not at The Stud), 1300 Sutter at Van Ness. Doors open at 9PM, show starts at 10 PM sharp. Heklina appreciates punctuality.