Remembering JoJo Baby and Heklina

JoJo Baby and Heklina are now in drag heaven, where the shows always start on time to a sold out crowd, and everyone tips the performers generously. Photos from JoJo Baby and Heklina’s Instagram, illustration: Fausto Fernós.

Long before drag was a mainstay of reality television, LGBTQ+ folks turned to drag for fun, to challenge society and explore their gender through an artistic, comedic and performative lens.

Sadly, we recently lost two fierce drag legends who meant a lot not just to us, but the world.

Heartbreaking. In March, JoJo Baby died from cancer at the age of 51. An early guest of our podcast, JoJo was a beloved Chicago nightclub personality and entertainer who dazzled patrons with their outlandish looks and puppetry.

And just last week, Heklina, who shaped the modern drag scene in San Francisco with their wildly popular and irreverent Trannyshack shows at the club STUD was found dead at the age of 55 in her London hotel by her dear friend Peaches Christ.

Today we remember two queer culture legends, Chicago’s JoJo Baby and San Francisco’s Heklina, who both died this past month and the impact they had on so many people’s lives, including ours.

Plus-

➤ Everybody’s daddy Pedro Pascal plays a gay cowboy in Pedro Almodóvar’s Western Short ‘Strange Way of Life’

➤ Billy Porter is set to play novelist, activist and essayist James Baldwin.

➤ Equality Florida issues an advisory warning for LGBTQ+ travelers

Episode #3074

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 12th, 2023 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Musicians, Podcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.