Outrageous drag queen Heklina spills her guts: “I see very little originality happening in drag”

Dedicated drag fans will know Heklina, the American-Icelandic drag queen who’s been making waves with her daring and entertaining performances for decades. GayIceland caught up with her in August, when she was supposed to perform at Reykjavik Pride.

Heklina is a mainstay of San Francisco’s drag community, but she also has strong ties to Iceland. Photo / Courtesy of Heklina

Heklina is a mainstay of San Francisco’s drag community, but she also has strong ties to Iceland. Her mother is Icelandic, and she spent part of her youth living in Reykjavík. In fact, Heklina’s first time in drag was in Iceland in 1991.
“The gay scene was a lot smaller then, and I had some friends who were opening this club called Moulin Rouge. I was not a performer then, I didn’t know that I had that in me, so I was doing things like coat check and working the door.”

“He took me back to where we lived and we just had sex immediately.”

While today Iceland may be a popular gay destination, it was much different thirty years ago. “Of course there was no Grindr, and there were no tourists because it was still not on the map. So it really felt like a sleepy town,” she says. “We all went to one bar, and it was very insular. Whenever a gay tourist would show up, everybody would be fighting for them.”

Heklina ended up spending a number of years in Iceland throughout the 80s and 90s. She originally came to Iceland to escape life in the States. “To be honest, I was coming to dry out. I was in the States and I was kind of getting strung out on drugs. It was the eighties after all,” she says. “My mother came to the States and she took me back with her. First I went and dried out in the countryside in Denmark, and then I came to Iceland and I went through a drug and alcohol rehab. I think it saved my life at that time.”

At 24, Heklina moved with a friend from sleepy Reykjavík to bustling San Francisco. “It was a shock for sure, but I fell in love with San Francisco as soon as I arrived. Something just clicked for me,” she says. “I also immediately fell into the queer performance community.”

It wasn’t long before Heklina started Mother (originally named Trannyshack but later renamed Mother to avoid using the term “tranny,” which is considered to be a slur by trans people and members of the LGBTplus society), the influential drag club that she would become known for. “I was working at this bar called The Stud and they asked me to try and start a club. And I did, and it became really successful. All of a sudden I became a ‘famous,’ at least as famous as a drag queen could be before RuPaul’s drag race.”

Heklina’s drag club opened in 1996, right as new drug therapies meant that HIV was no longer a death sentence but rather a manageable illness. “It was right when people stopped dying of AIDS,” Heklina says. “It felt like a time to celebrate.”

Before then, she says everything felt abstract and surreal. “You’re watching television and you see a bubblegum commercial, and at the same time, your friend next door is dying of AIDS. There was no talking about it in popular culture, it was kind of ignored. I don’t know how to convey that surreal feeling of walking around and there’s constant death everywhere, but there’s also people who are going around like in everyday life,” she says.

She remembers a time when she was working at a video store and selling concert tickets. “This really healthy friend of mine came in, and he wanted two tickets for Erasure. I pulled out two tickets for him but he said he wanted better seats. I told him ‘well, they’ll be back next year.’ And he said, ‘well, I’ll be dead by then.’ And then he was actually dead before they came back,” she says. “I also had to delete the video store memberships for the people who died. Every week I had to go through and delete the dead people out of. It was just really surreal.”

“I see very little originality happening in drag right now.”

In a way, Heklina thinks those experiences ended up influencing her approach to drag. She’s known for her “edgy” and punk rock style, which were informed by living through the AIDS crisis. “This is so fucked up, all these people are dying and the government doesn’t give a fuck,” she remembers thinking at the time.

When she started her club, Heklina came to it with all these feelings and experiences. “I had no drag background and so I didn’t come into it with a set of rules,” she says. “Right away it was a really punk rock venue. It was non-traditional, and anybody could perform there. I didn’t think I was being revolutionary by letting women perform. All that mattered was how good you were on stage. It was perceived as this kind of revolutionary thing, but it didn’t seem that to me. And people say that as a drag hostess I was a little bit more edgy or raunchy. I would drag boys up on stage and eat their asses. I became famous for that and I haven’t lived it down! People still think I do that, but I do not.”

Like her relationship with drag, Heklina’s relationship with punk goes back to her time in Iceland.
“There was a punk scene here and I fell into that scene. All of my influences when I was a teenager were things like David Bowie and punk rock and cult films, horror movies. So it became that my club celebrated all that stuff.”

With the mainstreaming of drag because of shows like RuPaul’s drag race, Heklina says she thinks drag has become less punk. “I think even when people are trying to be transgressive today, they’re copying somebody else. So I see very little originality happening in drag right now,” she says. “It was a statement before, there were people who came around and they influenced everybody. Like Leigh Bowery, Divine, a lot of the New York drag queens. They were definitely punk rock.”

For people getting into drag today, Heklina says the most punk thing is to be themselves. “This sounds so corny, but the real punk rock thing is not to look at Aquaria or Alaska and try and copy their makeup,” she explains. “The most punk rock thing you could do is form your own identity. That’s how things were before, people were their own identity, and their makeup may have been busted but once they were up on stage they’d have the most transcendent performances.”

Photo / Courtesy of Heklina

Just as drag is changing, so are things changing for Heklina. She just bought a house in Palm Springs and is moving out of San Francisco. Because of COVID-19, she hasn’t been able to perform in bars and clubs, but just before the pandemic began she started her own podcast. Guests so far have ranged from drag queens such as Bianca del Rio and Lady Bunny, to director John Cameron Mitchell, to musician Ana Matronic.

In May, she interviewed Icelandic superstar Páll Óskar on the podcast. She began the interview by recalling the first time the two met at the Reykjavík swimming pool Vesturbæjarlaug. “He took me back to where we lived and we just had sex immediately,” she says. “And then we bonded over horror movies and cult movies and stuff. We really should be married, but we’re just good friends instead.”

The podcast episodes feel like conversations between friends. Yes, they discuss their sexual escapades, but they also reflect on other issues, especially as most of the interviews have taken place during the pandemic. “Everybody is dealing with this collective trauma in their own way. The pause button has been pushed on the whole world, and so everybody’s kind of going through this period of discovering something else. That’s what’s been interesting,” she says.

Although she’s back in the States now, Heklina isn’t done with Iceland yet. In the coming years she hopes to spend her winters in Palm Springs and return to Iceland in the summers. As soon as it’s safe to begin performing again, you’ll be sure to find Heklina on a stage near you.

Á. Óskarsson
Á. Óskarsson

Á. Óskarsson offers a variety of products and services to sports centers, swimming pools, schools, kindergartens, and the general public. The company specializes in sport-related products, activity-focused games, and a wide range of solutions for sports facilities.

Á. Óskarsson has been involved in numerous big projects related to building sports facilities and has made it their benchmark to offer good quality products and equipment since the company was founded.

See links to social media in the upper left-hand corner

—————-

Á. Óskarsson selur fjölbreytt vöruúrval fyrir íþróttahús, sundlaugar, skóla og leikskóla og einnig ýmsar vörur til einkaafnota. Fyrirtækið selur vörur til íþróttaiðkunnar og leikja ásamt því að bjóða upp á ýmsar lausnir fyrir íþróttamannvirki.

Á. Óskarsson hefur komið að fjölda stórra verkefna við byggingu íþróttamannvirkja og hefur frá stofnun kappkostað að bjóða vandaðar og endingargóðar vörur.

Tenglar á samfélagsmiðla eru í efra horninu vinstra megin.

Webpage/vefsetur

Blush

    Blush was founded in 2011 when it started selling high quality sex products. The goal from the beginning was to change the market and take the discussion about sex products to a higher level. Today Blush provides professional services in a pleasant environment that fulfills different needs, both for individuals and couples. Blush respects diversity and wants to set a good example in all of its messaging to target audiences. Sexual health and equality in sex is important and Blush wants to focus on those issues through education and open discussion. Blush works in a socially responsible manner for society, their customers and the environment.

    Check out Blush’s website: https://blush.is/

    Omnom Chocolate
    - award-winning chocolate maker

      Omnom Chocolate is an Icelandic craft chocolate company based in Reykjavík. We produce handcrafted chocolate from organic cacao beans sourced ethically and sustainably. We’ve developed direct relationships to create premium chocolate with fine flavor cacao beans.

      Our creative flavors are carefully crafted by meticulous chocolate makers. The cacao beans are roasted, winnowed, ground, and refined into melty-smooth chocolate.

      Omnom’s process is one of constant exploration, invention, and experimentation. If it doesn’t please us, if something isn’t absolutely delicious, there’s no reason to be doing it. So, we always start with our taste buds and follow our instincts. Our team searches for the finest ingredients in the world and new ways to improve chocolate. This obsession with knowing where our ingredients come from has led us around the corner to dairy farms in the Icelandic countryside and all the way to rainforest cacao farms of Nicaragua.

      In only a few short years, we’ve grown from our 50 sq. m. petrol station space and become an award-winning chocolate maker. Now, with our headquarters in 101 Reykjavík, our chocolate is sent out around Iceland and all over the world.

      At the end of the day, our goal is to make chocolate.

       

      Nasdaq

         

        Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a global technology company serving the capital markets and other industries. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software and services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence.

        With over 4,300 employees in 39 offices around the world, at Nasdaq we all contribute to the success of the company and its culture, and each one of us has the ability to make a difference. When it comes to our core mission and values, we embrace the role of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) as a fundamental driver of our corporate growth, workplace culture and market development. We strive to create a culture that embraces the power of different perspectives—a culture where people’s unique backgrounds and different experiences helps us fuel innovation and support our clients around the world.

        Our unique position at the center of the capital markets allows us to see firsthand how these values have redefined corporate culture and success, deepening and accelerating our own commitment to champion inclusive growth and prosperity, as we strive to create more equitable opportunities to help people of all backgrounds reach their full potential. Most notably, we published our diversity statistics for the first time in 2020. These metrics serve as a quantitative assessment of where we are today and help determine what strategies we need to adopt to enhance diversity in the workplace. We recognize that we have much work to do, but we are steadfast in our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive culture—one that reflects the communities in which we live, allows all employees to be their true, authentic selves and fosters individual growth and achievement.

        As we move forward together, we will continue advancing diverse ideas and perspectives that help fulfill the promise of a more inclusive and prosperous world. We aim to set the pace for rethinking capital markets and economies anywhere and everywhere. To learn more about the company, technology solutions and career opportunities, visit us on LinkedIn, on Twitter @Nasdaq, or at www.nasdaq.com.

        Blue Lagoon
        - One of the 25 Wonders of the World

        Named by National Geographic as one of the 25 Wonders of the World, the Blue Lagoon is a shimmering expanse of warmth, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Its unique geothermal seawater
        comes from 2.000 meters within the earth where seawater and freshwater converge in a tectonic realm of porous lava and searing heat. Propelled by extreme pressure, the water ascends to the earth’s surface, emerging enriched with silica, algae, and minerals—the elements that endow Blue Lagoon geothermal seawater with its radiant, healing properties.

        From its humble beginnings in the shadows of a geothermal power plant, Blue Lagoon has evolved into a world of wonder, now encompassing two hotels, three restaurants, three
        geothermal lagoons, a subterranean spa, a renowned line of skin care, a thriving research center, and a wealth of spa and refreshment facilities.

        Achieving harmony with the volcanic landscape, the lagoon and its surrounding architecture embody the unification of the man-made and the natural, and adhere to the highest principles of sustainability.

        The Blue Lagoon. A wonder of the world. A world of wonder.

        Landsbankinn
        - leading financial institution
        Landsbankinn

        Landsbankinn is a leading Icelandic financial institution. It offers a full range of financial services and is the market leader in the Icelandic financial service sector with the largest branch network.

        The present bank was established on 7 October 2008 but the history of its predecessor dates back to 1886. The bank is owned by the National Treasury of Iceland, which holds 98.2% of its share capital, and other shareholders who own 1.8%.

        Landsbankinn’s strategy is to provide comprehensive financial services that meet customer’s needs. It emphasizes providing exemplary service to customers, developing e-banking for their convenience, increasing the efficiency of support functions, modernizing its technology and ensuring effective utilization of its balance sheet.

        The bank’s vision is to be exemplary and its role is to be a trusted financial partner.

        Special emphasis is placed on promoting a performance-oriented culture in the bank. To follow up on the implementation of this strategy, the bank has defined key goals which are measured regularly to determine progress. These goals include, for example, customer satisfaction and loyalty, profitability, cost efficiency and the correlation between risk appetite and employee satisfaction.

        Landsbankinn wishes to lead the development of a sustainable society in Iceland by integrating economic, social and environmental concerns in its operations. The Bank aims to ensure that both its owners and society at large benefit from its activities.

        It intends to achieve this aim by building solid infrastructure and a strong team of 1.100 employees, by listening to its customers and by respecting and encouraging its employees to actively participate in their community. Landsbankinn was a founding member of Festa, a Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, and is a member of the UN Global Compact.

        Landsbankinn has been a proud sponsor of the Reykjavik Pride since it was first celebrated in Iceland.

        Dohop
        - get inspired
        Dohop

        Dohop allows people to find the cheapest flights available with just one click. Founded in Reykjavik in 2004, it is the only Icelandic company of its kind and quickly became the go-to tool for finding cheap flights among the locals. Dohop finds the best deals among hundreds of different airlines and online travel agencies, to make sure that the user is getting the cheapest price. Dohop also offers hotel and car rental search engines, so users can make all of their travel bookings from a single website.

        Dohop‘s specialty is finding so-called “self-connect” flight options, which can save travelers money by booking a ticket through two or more different airlines. The ability to look for these self-connect option is what sets Dohop apart from its competition, as it can save people hundreds of dollars on certain routes.

        More recently, Dohop has developed a unique product called Dohop Go!, which allows users to check for the cheapest available flights from their home airport. This tool is perfect for those who are looking for travel inspiration but are not willing to overpay for their flight ticket. Dohop Go! is now available in the Dohop Flights App, both for Android and iOS, along with its traditional flight, hotel, and car search engines. “

        VSÓ Ráðgjöf

           

          VSÓ Ráðgjöf er alhliða ráðgjafar- og verkfræðifyrirtæki sem leggur áherslu á trausta og faglega þjónustu sem tryggir viðskiptavinum hagkvæmustu lausnir hverju sinni, skilar raunverulegum árangri og stuðlar að samkeppnisforskoti.  Á skrifstofum VSÓ í Reykjavík og í Noregi starfar yfir 80 manna samhentur hópur verkfræðinga og annarra tæknimenntaðra starfsmanna.

          Macland
          - for all your Apple needs
          Macland

          From starting out as a proper startup with only a good idea and the need to change things, to becoming an established company with 6 employees. Starting from scratch and expanding organically has allowed us to love our expansion and take our customers on the ride with us.

          Macland is located at Laugavegur 23 (101, Downtown Reykjavik)
          For all your Apple needs. We are here.

          Ísey skyr
          - once tasted never forgotten

          Our Story
          Once upon a time, 1,100 years ago in fact, Nordic settlers began arriving in Iceland. They brought with them the skills and knowledge for producing skyr. As time passed, the know-how and recipe for this nutritious food slowly faded out elsewhere in the Nordic region. Luckily, the Icelandic skyr-making tradition continued.

          For centuries, Icelandic skyr formed a cornerstone of the national diet, helping to keep people strong in living conditions that were often harsh. On family farms countrywide, it was the women who nurtured this dairy and passing on both the recipe and the original Icelandic skyr cultures from mother to daughter.

          Ísey skyr builds on this remarkable legacy. It was some of those very same women, the recipients of their mothers’ expertise, who, around 90 years ago, taught Icelandic dairy scientists the art of skyr-making. The production process is more high-tech these days, and the quality standards more rigorous. However, the basic recipe and the use of original cultures to ferment the skimmed milk remain the same. Protein rich, fat-free, creamy and delicious – Ísey skyr is as relevant to consumers now as it was all those centuries ago.
          This is our secret and you are in on it

          You can read more about Ísey skyr on our website.

          Contact Us


          PGlmcmFtZSBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lmdvb2dsZS5jb20vbWFwcy9lbWJlZD9wYj0hMW0xNCExbTEyITFtMyExZDI3ODQyLjM0NzA2NDA3OTU4ITJkLTIxLjkwMDg1MDg1NzkxODQyITNkNjQuMTQxNzA3ODE2NzAyMDEhMm0zITFmMCEyZjAhM2YwITNtMiExaTEwMjQhMmk3NjghNGYxMy4xITVlMCEzbTIhMXNlbiEycyE0djE0MzMzMzc5MTUyMjYiIHdpZHRoPSIxMDAlIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwMCUiIGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyPSIwIiBzdHlsZT0iYm9yZGVyOjAiPjwvaWZyYW1lPg==
          Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.