Drag Star Heklina Defends Trannyshack Trademark

Drag queens don't play.Somehow we missed this story from SF Weekly (which came complete with this semi-offensive illustration) about how San Francisco drag impresario Heklina is getting embroiled in a legal battle with a faggot over in London who trademarked the Trannyshack name for himself in England and Ireland. She's been fighting for years to keep the name from being used at unsanctioned parties in Florida, Arizona, and elsewhere (Heckles herself takes the party regularly to L.A., Seattle, Portland, and Hawaii). As she puts it, "If I ever felt like going to Florida and doing a Trannyshack show, I can't have them be like, 'There was a Trannyshack here a little while ago and it was so tired.'" But the guy in London was someone she knew, and she was OK with him calling his popular Madame JoJo's party "Trannyshack UK" since he'd even invited her over there to perform. In exchange for using the name, she requested that he pay for her to fly over there twice a year. He's so far refused, and now Heklina is enlisting a lawyer to sue him in British court over the unlawful use of her trademark. [SF Weekly]