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Pattie Gonia
Drag queen, environmental and LGBTQ+ activist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Wyn Wiley (born July 21, 1992),[1] known professionally as Pattie Gonia, is a drag queen, environmental and LGBTQ+ activist, and community organizer. Pattie Gonia uses she/they pronouns when in drag and while out of drag Wyn Wiley uses he/they pronouns.[1]
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Early life and education
Wiley is from Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][3]
Pattie 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
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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 folks seeking jobs and for companies to share job postings.[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]
Pattie Gonia is a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause and has spoken up against the Israeli government throughout the Gaza Genocide. Pattie Gonia attended the 2024 Glaad Awards holding a sign reading "End Genocide End Ecocide" as a reference to the genocide in Gaza and worldwide ecocide.[19]
In 2024, Pattie Gonia hosted an environmental drag show titled “Anti-Plastic Fantastic’”, advocating against single-use plastics and the waste of not reusing clothing.[20] In 2025, Pattie Gonia gave a TedTalk about the role of joy in the fight against climate change and supporting queer rights.[21]
Awards and recognition
In 2020, Pattie Gonia was named to the Out100, Out magazine's annual list of the "most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people."[6][22] They were also nominated for the Shorty Awards in the LGBTQ+ category.[23] In 2023, Time magazine included Pattie Gonia in their list of Next Generation Leaders.[24] In 2024, Pattie Gonia was named a National Geographic Traveler of the Year.[25]
Media coverage
In December 2018, Wiley was interviewed by REI, an outdoor clothing company, alongside the release of his first music video as Pattie Gonia.[26][27] In November 2019, Pattie Gonia was the subject of a REI documentary titled "Dear Mother Nature".[28][23][29] It was accompanied by a shorter, 3-minute spoken word poem video titled "Everything to Lose".[30][31] Pattie Gonia later produced a video with BBC News about the activist's work in March 2020.[32]
Pattie Gonia attracted media attention for attending the January 2019 Outdoor Retailer trade show in all-white drag.[2][33]
In October 2022, Pattie Gonia was the subject of media coverage for their Halloween costume, where they dressed as climate change.[34] 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.[35][11][36]
In 2023, Pattie Gonia released "Won't Give Up"[37] with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Indigenous trans musician Quinn Christopherson.[38] 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.[39]
In 2024, an image of Pattie Gonia standing with Kamala Harris at a pride event in 2022 was used in an advertisement for the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign. The commercial used transgender people to attack Harris, stating that “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you.” The ad criticized Harris’s statements that all people should be allowed gender-affirming healthcare, including inmates. Pattie Gonia responded to the ad on social media, noting that the Trump campaign did not have permission to use the image and directing followers to a fundraiser for two LGBTQ advocacy groups.[40]
Also in 2024, Pattie toured with her show, SAVE HER! An Environmental Drag show. The show visited a number of cities across the U.S.[41]
Pattie Gonia continues to be featured in news outlets for her work, including features by the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and the Washington Post.[42][43][44]
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Personal life
Pattie Gonia uses she/they pronouns when in drag and while out of drag Wyn Wiley uses he/they pronouns.[34] Wiley identifies as a gay male.[33] He lives in Oregon.[24]
See also
References
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