Why has a drag icon’s death gone unsolved for 2 years?

On April 3, 2023, San Francisco drag legend Heklina (also known as Steven Grygelko) was found dead at a rented flat in Soho.

She was in London preparing for a run of shows at the Soho Theatre with her good friend and fellow drag queen, Peaches Christ (Joshua Grannell), who was the one who discovered her body.

Two years on, a police investigation is still ongoing, and there is no official cause of death, but it’s believed drugs may have been involved. Then in January this year, the Metropolitan Police released CCTV footage of three men who were ‘at the flat in the early hours’ of the morning Heklina died.

‘We need to establish what happened,’ said DCI Dean Purvis, ‘and how Steven was when they left.’

The big unanswered questions remain then – were people with Heklina when she died? Were they involved? Did they leave her to die? And the reason I’m writing this piece, why did the Met wait almost two years to release this vital footage? Was it media pressure around the case?

In the two years since her death, I believe that the police have failed consistently. Peaches Christ and Nancy French, listed as next of kin, have been ignored and leads have not been properly investigated. The former tells me that police have had Heklina’s phone and not accessed any data on it.

So my assessment of the situation is that the police have failed Heklina on all fronts and I believe that the implications are clear – if you’re queer or gender non-conforming and your death is suspected drug-related, it’s not worth looking further.

I didn’t know Heklina well, but I was a big fan from afar.

She was a San Francisco institution – a true force of nature. I remember seeing a David Bowie tribute at her club, Oasis, just as I was starting out in drag and being incredibly inspired by her.

She went on to give me my first international booking – at that same club – two years before I was on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Her death leaves a big hole in the drag and queer community, both in San Francisco and abroad.

Ever since her passing, Peaches has continually expressed frustration at the pace of the investigation or lack of updates. To the point Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah stated last month: ‘We apologise and will be taking steps to correct this.’

But the ineptitude runs deeper than just this case.

It’s been two years since the Casey Review (commissioned following the murder of Sarah Everard) found the Metropolitan Police to be institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic, in need of radical reform, and that the force can ‘no longer presume that it has the permission of the people of London to police them’.

It added: ‘A point where the majority of a group of [LGBTQ+] people do not have confidence in a public body should serve as a red flag signal that something needs to drastically change.’

One particular failing the Casey Review highlighted was the Met’s handling of investigating serial killer Stephen Port. Around a decade ago, he killed four young gay men by overdosing them on drugs and then dumping their bodies.

The Met investigations initially treated all four deaths as ‘non-suspicious’, despite them sharing ‘clear similarities’ and in spite of repeated concerns being raised by people close to the victims and the wider community.

And now here we are again. Another death – unlike the Stephen Port murders – but countless protestations from our community falling on deaf ears.

So I have to ask: How can a police force protect queer communities when it has been found to be institutionally homophobic? The Met’s failures destroy trust, making it harder for LGBTQ+ people to seek protection or report crimes.

Many fear secondary victimisation — being dismissed, mocked, or ignored by the very institution meant to serve them. We’ve seen all of these issues plainly in the handling of the investigation in the two years since Heklina’s death.

In a world where anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is on the rise, our rights are being threatened, and hate speech is normalised, we need faith in our institutions to protect us. 

Old tropes – like calling drag queens paedophiles – have become all-too commonplace. I am unfortunately well aware of this rise and I was lucky enough to be able to fight back against this (and win) in the civil courts.

What’s clear to me is that, in the two years since Heklina’s death, the only thing that seems to have spurred the police into action is public scrutiny – that means going to the media and shaming them into action.

Thankfully, Heklina has friends willing to fight this battle. But this cannot be the path to justice because it paints a picture of a broken policing system.

Who else has been forgotten? Who else has died, but without high-profile friends to champion them?

So we have to protest. Not just for Heklina, but for all marginalised groups who have been let down by this system.

Today, I helped organise a protest against institutional homophobia within the Metropolitan Police. Myself and many others gathered outside New Scotland Yard to demand justice for Heklina and for all impacted by police bias.

There were drag artists from the UK and San Francisco speaking, alongside people from the nightlife industry, activists, and people with experience of police bias.

It’s clear to me that the only way we’re going to get police movement in this case is to demand it publicly.

These are our demands – release Heklina’s coroner’s report (including her cause of death), offer a full apology to her family and friends for a failure to communicate and investigate fully, commence a full internal investigation of the case.

Also update the public on the implementation of the Stephen Port inquest recommendations (changing how they handle unexpected death investigations, introducing new training, changing internal policies, carrying out a review of deaths from GHB poisoning and changing how they engage with the LGBTQ+ community).

At the end of the day, reform is not optional; it is urgent. How much more will it take for the Metropolitan police to finally change?

Heklina’s family and friends are still waiting for answers – it’s an injustice they haven’t received them yet.

Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah, who leads policing in the local area, told Metro: ‘We know that many feel deep distress following Steven’s death and some feel frustration with the pace of the police investigation. We are also aware of the concerns of Steven’s next of kin and have apologised to them directly.

‘A full review of the investigation is ongoing to establish any missed opportunities.  We continue to examine all lines of enquiry in relation to Steven’s death and remain steadfast in our determination to establish the facts.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

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