Wikipedia

Pattie Gonia

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Wyn Wiley (born 1991 or 1992),[1] known professionally as Pattie Gonia, is a drag queen, environmental and LGBTQ+ activist, and community organizer.

Pattie Gonia in an advertisement for Ikon Pass in 2023

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]

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

  1. ^ a b c d "Meet Pattie Gonia, the Backpacking Drag Queen Promoting Inclusivity in the Outdoors". SELF. December 11, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Outdoorsqueen Pattie Gonia Wants You to Find Your Six-Inch Heels". Outside. August 12, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Meet The Drag Queen Environmentalist Helping Queer People Find Freedom In Nature". HuffPost. July 20, 2022.
  4. ^ Weinberger, Madi (December 4, 2014). "Photographer Wyn Wiley has 'phenomenal eye for capturing life'". The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  5. ^ a b Outside, Grace Perry for (November 15, 2018). "Pattie Gonia: the drag queen Eagle Scout who dances on mountaintops". The Guardian.
  6. ^ a b c "Pattie Gonia Is Taking Drag Outdoors for Climate Activism". Out Traveler. February 25, 2022.
  7. ^ "For This Outdoor Drag Queen, the Trail Is a Runway". Sierra Club.
  8. ^ a b Klusendorf, Annie (April 19, 2022). "Q&A: Pattie Gonia on Outdoor Advocacy and Nature's Queerness". Field Mag.
  9. ^ "This Backpacking Drag Queen Makes Hiking in Heels Look Easy". ELLE. January 11, 2019.
  10. ^ Campbell, Maeve (October 22, 2020). "Meet Pattie Gonia: An environmental drag queen on a mission". Euronews.
  11. ^ a b Kennedy, Sarah (July 16, 2021). "A conversation with environmentalist drag queen Pattie Gonia » Yale Climate Connections". Yale Climate Connections.
  12. ^ "Meet the drag queen on a mission to create safe outdoor spaces for underrepresented communities". The Seattle Times. November 29, 2021.
  13. ^ Hirsh, Sophie (August 9, 2022). "Pattie Gonia Is the Intersectional Environmentalist Drag Queen Making a Difference (Exclusive)". Green Matters.
  14. ^ Hirsh, Sophie (January 14, 2022). "Activists Launch "Outdoorist Oath" Community to Celebrate "Planet, Inclusion, and Adventure"". Green Matters.
  15. ^ "What It Means to Sign On to the New Outdoorist Oath". Sierra Club.
  16. ^ Helms, Hayley (May 23, 2022). "The North Face and Pattie Gonia Team Up for 'Summer of Pride'". Gear Patrol.
  17. ^ Menetre, Giorgia. "Pattie Gonia and The North Face Team up for Summer of Pride". Teton Gravity Research.
  18. ^ Ernest, Maya (23 May 2022). "The North Face taps drag queen Pattie Gonia to celebrate Pride". Input.
  19. ^ "Out100 2019". Out.
  20. ^ a b "Pattie Gonia - The Shorty Awards". Shorty Awards.
  21. ^ a b Mandel, Kyla (October 5, 2023). "How This Drag Queen Is Fostering an Inclusive Outdoor Community". Time. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  22. ^ Parris, Aer (December 10, 2018). "Pattie Gonia, Backpacking Queen, Releases Her First Full-Length Video". REI.
  23. ^ "Climb Every Mountain | Pattie Gonia" – via www.youtube.com.
  24. ^ Staff, R. E. I. (November 21, 2019). "REI Presents: 'Everything to Lose' by Pattie Gonia". REI.
  25. ^ "REI Presents: Dear Mother Nature, starring Pattie Gonia" – via www.youtube.com.
  26. ^ Lozancich, Katie (7 July 2019). "Live Like Pattie Gonia: Mother Nature Takes Pride in YOU". Teton Gravity Research.
  27. ^ "REI Presents: Everything to Lose by Pattie Gonia" – via www.youtube.com.
  28. ^ "Hiking and beach cleaning - in heels and drag". BBC News.
  29. ^ a b "Pattie Gonia is Making Hiking Fabulous". 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-11-20. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  30. ^ a b Hubbard, Halisia (October 31, 2022). "Drag queen Pattie Gonia wanted a scary Halloween costume. She went as climate change" – via NPR.
  31. ^ "Pattie Gonia Is the Drag Queen Bringing Environmentalism to TikTok". Vogue. October 3, 2021.
  32. ^ "Pattie Gonia: The drag queen on a mission to save the mothertuckin' planet". Attitude. March 23, 2021.
  33. ^ "How This Drag Queen Is Fostering an Inclusive Outdoor Community". Time. 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  34. ^ Veltman, Chloe (November 14, 2023). "This trio hopes 'Won't Give Up' will become an anthem for the climate movement". NPR.
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