Being: Pattie Gonia
Pattie Gonia is a force of nature—created in the wilderness to defend the great queer diversity of the outdoors. She is shockingly stunning, a BIG redhead with the perfect body and makeup, who can strut a runway, ski your pants off, and rappel you with the hard truth at cliff-dropping speed. Climate change is a drag, but “Trans and queer people have always been the forefront of activism.”
In a very short time, since Wyn Wiley (he/them), first metamorphized into Pattie Gonia on a backpacking trip, (she/them) has received an invitation to the White House, been recognized as Time Magazine’s 2024 Next Generation Leaders, fundraised close to $3 million for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and environmental non-profits, and produced a music video— on a glacier—with celloist Yo-Yo Ma. What’s not to like? And what else can’t she possibly achieve? “Joy is a serious way to take on climate action.”
“Nature is queer,” says Pattie Gonia. “I see queerness in the way a dandelion grows through concrete, the way plants find light to survive. I see queerness in the way clownfish can change gender several times in a lifetime. I even see queerness in flowers and bees because they are interspecies sexual. Flowers wouldn’t survive without bees carrying their pollen. Queerness is everywhere, but homophobia is found in only one species.”
During 2025, Pattie has been on a national “SAVE HER” tour, unabashedly wearing repurposed REI tents as fashion. “Sustainability, bitch!” She was just in her hometown of Bend, Oregon, for a Halloween trick and treat performance, with yet another sold-out audience, where she declared, “They say kids shouldn’t be able to buy junk food on food stamps. Well, I don’t think that politicians and billionaires should be able to buy 13-year-old children…”
CultureVulture caught up with Wyn and his posse—barely in cell range, in route to their next gig in Bishop, CA. Pattie performs in as many, if not more, rural communities as she does big cities, aware of the urgency and importance of supporting those communities by featuring their drag king and queens, queer activists, nontraditional performers, and environmentalists of color in the show—not as her warmup but “because they deserve a big stage… There are a lot of forces that wanna make touring worlds very predatory, and I think we found a way to do it as good as I know how…”
CV: How perfect to have your homecoming show on Halloween.
PG: It was so cute. We had a cast member in the show who I was their summer camp counselor at Camp Brave Trails for LGBTQ youth, four years ago. They were in the closet and came to camp for the first time. Now they’re out as a trans woman and a drag performer in Portland! They were in last night’s show, and it was such a beautiful full circle…
It’s always great to take drag to a little bit more of a straight place like Bend. I love playing big shows, but there’s nothing like doing a show in a place that really needs and wants it.
CV: Most of us turn to nature as a getaway, someplace to disappear and to reconnect. But you’ve turned your refuge into your stage, bringing your meteoric rise to fame with you. Do you ever get concerned that you might lose your anonymity now that you’ve made your special place your workplace?
PG: Honestly? NO! I love getting to meet people who are making a difference in their backyard, and to be a guest in theirs has made my outdoor experience even richer. Growing up as a queer kid, I loved nature but never had queer friends outside, and now I do —it’s the dream come true.
CV: How has drag helped you become more yourself?
PG: There’s a lot of pressure, especially, and even after, people come out to conform or to behave in a certain way because…There’s a double-down to trying to prove worthiness or acceptance. For me, as a gay male, that was found in overcompensating and becoming even more masculine before I found drag. Because I was told if I should be a ‘good gay’ or a ‘passing gay.’ For me, I found healing by embracing my femininity, just as much as my masculinity, and in embracing my weirdness in general, because we don’t talk enough about how, when we come out of the closet, how much pressure there is to conform. So, I became this version of myself by sacrificing who I truly was. Through drag, I was able to really find myself, find my people. And I really learned that love with conditions isn’t love but a special form of hate. What I want is that healing and freedom for everyone, including straight men.
CV: Your San Francisco show in December at the Warfield Theater is your last performance for 2025. Rumor has it that you have something else planned for San Franciscans leading up to the performance.
PG: All I can tell you is I am doing something to raise as much money as possible for diverse funded nonprofits, and that people should keep their eyes peeled. But I can’t leak much more than that because of my safety. But it’s gonna be one of the biggest outdoor adventures yet!
CV: So, the best way for San Franciscans to stay tuned for this soon-to-be announced event is by following your social media platforms.
PG: Yes.
CV: You have a special relationship with the city.
PG: I feel a very strong connection to the San Francisco drag scene. I have a lot of respect for it…We did our first-ever show at the Oasis, which, sadly, is closing. We also just did a beachside drag show in the city…on No Kings Day, as a fundraiser for Queer Surf: All Bodies All Boards and had a whole cast of drag kings perform for Kings that was very fun.
CV: Super. What’s 2026 looking like for you?
PG: Even more cities next year, including some exciting plans in the works for San Francisco…Every show is like this little Ecosystem, like fruiting mushrooms, like this interview, which will help support things locally and globally. I really appreciate you, so thanks for wanting to cover it.
CV: Thank you for making the world more incusive and ‘camp’ great again.
David e. Moreno
