Pattie Gonia
Wyn Wiley (born 1991 or 1992),[1] known professionally as Pattie Gonia, is a drag queen, environmental and LGBTQ+ activist, and community organizer.
Early life and education
[edit]Wiley is from Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][3]
Gonia graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a degree in advertising and public relations in 2014.[4] Wiley has worked as a creative director and professional photographer.[5][6][3]
Activism and career
[edit]Wiley's first experiment with drag was in early 2018, as the character "Ginger Snap".[7][2] In October 2018, Wiley created the character Pattie Gonia, producing short-form outdoors activism content on Instagram and TikTok, while in drag.[1][8] The first video as Pattie Gonia, posted on October 3, gained more than 100 million views.[6][9] The name Pattie Gonia is a pun on Patagonia, an American outdoor clothing company.[1][5] Pattie Gonia's activism focuses on environmental and LGBTQ+ issues, promoting acceptance of queer identities in the environmentalist and outdoors communities, and promoting awareness of climate change and its effects.[3][1] Euronews described this form of activism as "intersectional environmentalism".[10]
In addition to online content, Pattie Gonia organizes in-person hikes and events for LGBT+ and environmental causes.[11][12] They also developed a job board for queer outdoorists.[8]
In January 2022, Wiley co-founded "The Outdoorist Oath", a nonprofit working on diversity, equity, and inclusion and environmental causes in the outdoors community.[13][14][15] Pattie Gonia partnered with The North Face for their 2022 "Summer of Pride" series.[16][3] The series comprised four outdoor community-building events focused on local LGBTQ+ engagement and acceptance. [17][18]
In 2020, Pattie Gonia was named to the Out100, Out magazine's annual list of the "most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people."[6][19] They were also nominated for the Shorty Awards in the LGBTQ+ category.[20]
In 2023, Time magazine included Pattie Gonia in their list of Next Generation Leaders.[21]
Media coverage
[edit]In December 2018, Wiley was interviewed by REI alongside the release of his first music video as Pattie Gonia.[22][23] In November 2019, Pattie Gonia was the subject of a REI documentary titled "Dear Mother Nature".[24][20][25] It was accompanied by a shorter, 3-minute spoken word poem video titled "Everything to Lose".[26][27] Pattie Gonia later produced a video with BBC News about the activist's work in March 2020.[28]
Pattie Gonia attracted media attention for attending the January 2019 Outdoor Retailer trade show in all-white drag.[2][29]
In October 2022, Pattie Gonia was the subject of media coverage for their Halloween costume, where they dressed as climate change.[30] They have previously designed other outfits in support of climate causes and awareness, such as a dress and wigs made of recycled trash, for their TikTok and Instagram content.[31][11][32]
In 2023, Pattie Gonia released "Won't Give Up" with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Indigenous trans musician Quinn Christopherson.[33] The music video was filmed in Kenai Fjords National Park as a tribute to Exit Glacier, a melting glacier in Alaska which was once a hundred feet tall.[34]
In 2024, an image of Pattie Gonia was used in an advertisement the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign. Pattie Gonia did not grant the campaign permission to use the image, and they stated that they were "reviewing legal options" against Trump.[35]
Personal life
[edit]Pattie Gonia uses she/they pronouns when in drag and while out of drag Wyn Wiley uses he/they pronouns.[30] Wiley identifies as a gay male.[29] He lives in Oregon.[21]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Meet Pattie Gonia, the Backpacking Drag Queen Promoting Inclusivity in the Outdoors". SELF. December 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Outdoorsqueen Pattie Gonia Wants You to Find Your Six-Inch Heels". Outside. August 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Meet The Drag Queen Environmentalist Helping Queer People Find Freedom In Nature". HuffPost. July 20, 2022.
- ^ Weinberger, Madi (December 4, 2014). "Photographer Wyn Wiley has 'phenomenal eye for capturing life'". The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
- ^ a b Outside, Grace Perry for (November 15, 2018). "Pattie Gonia: the drag queen Eagle Scout who dances on mountaintops". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c "Pattie Gonia Is Taking Drag Outdoors for Climate Activism". Out Traveler. February 25, 2022.
- ^ "For This Outdoor Drag Queen, the Trail Is a Runway". Sierra Club.
- ^ a b Klusendorf, Annie (April 19, 2022). "Q&A: Pattie Gonia on Outdoor Advocacy and Nature's Queerness". Field Mag.
- ^ "This Backpacking Drag Queen Makes Hiking in Heels Look Easy". ELLE. January 11, 2019.
- ^ Campbell, Maeve (October 22, 2020). "Meet Pattie Gonia: An environmental drag queen on a mission". Euronews.
- ^ a b Kennedy, Sarah (July 16, 2021). "A conversation with environmentalist drag queen Pattie Gonia » Yale Climate Connections". Yale Climate Connections.
- ^ "Meet the drag queen on a mission to create safe outdoor spaces for underrepresented communities". The Seattle Times. November 29, 2021.
- ^ Hirsh, Sophie (August 9, 2022). "Pattie Gonia Is the Intersectional Environmentalist Drag Queen Making a Difference (Exclusive)". Green Matters.
- ^ Hirsh, Sophie (January 14, 2022). "Activists Launch "Outdoorist Oath" Community to Celebrate "Planet, Inclusion, and Adventure"". Green Matters.
- ^ "What It Means to Sign On to the New Outdoorist Oath". Sierra Club.
- ^ Helms, Hayley (May 23, 2022). "The North Face and Pattie Gonia Team Up for 'Summer of Pride'". Gear Patrol.
- ^ Menetre, Giorgia. "Pattie Gonia and The North Face Team up for Summer of Pride". Teton Gravity Research.
- ^ Ernest, Maya (23 May 2022). "The North Face taps drag queen Pattie Gonia to celebrate Pride". Input.
- ^ "Out100 2019". Out.
- ^ a b "Pattie Gonia - The Shorty Awards". Shorty Awards.
- ^ a b Mandel, Kyla (October 5, 2023). "How This Drag Queen Is Fostering an Inclusive Outdoor Community". Time. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
- ^ Parris, Aer (December 10, 2018). "Pattie Gonia, Backpacking Queen, Releases Her First Full-Length Video". REI.
- ^ "Climb Every Mountain | Pattie Gonia". 9 December 2018 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Staff, R. E. I. (November 21, 2019). "REI Presents: 'Everything to Lose' by Pattie Gonia". REI.
- ^ "REI Presents: Dear Mother Nature, starring Pattie Gonia". 21 November 2019 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Lozancich, Katie (7 July 2019). "Live Like Pattie Gonia: Mother Nature Takes Pride in YOU". Teton Gravity Research.
- ^ "REI Presents: Everything to Lose by Pattie Gonia". 21 November 2019 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Hiking and beach cleaning - in heels and drag". BBC News.
- ^ a b "Pattie Gonia is Making Hiking Fabulous". 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-11-20. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
- ^ a b Hubbard, Halisia (October 31, 2022). "Drag queen Pattie Gonia wanted a scary Halloween costume. She went as climate change" – via NPR.
- ^ "Pattie Gonia Is the Drag Queen Bringing Environmentalism to TikTok". Vogue. October 3, 2021.
- ^ "Pattie Gonia: The drag queen on a mission to save the mothertuckin' planet". Attitude. March 23, 2021.
- ^ "How This Drag Queen Is Fostering an Inclusive Outdoor Community". Time. 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
- ^ Veltman, Chloe (November 14, 2023). "This trio hopes 'Won't Give Up' will become an anthem for the climate movement". NPR.
- ^ "Drag queen whose image was used in a Trump ad is reviewing 'legal options'". NBC News. 2024-10-04. Retrieved 2024-10-04.